Yuletide Worry: Amy Version
by Munchkin25
Summary: Yuletide Worry, but this time Amy Munch is in it! A lot of things are happening and with 2.5 days to go before Christmas, the squad begins to understand how much of a family they are...even with a newbie cop.
1. Ch 1: It's Beginning To Look Like

I thought a Christmas version of my Mary-Sue series was in order. And before you ask where the hell have you been, let's just say school was really something else and I was enjoying a week off of my summer. But rest assured, I am back full time in writing and you'll be seeing a lot of stories coming your way this summer.

As usual, I don't own these guys, but I own Amy and all the other characters I make up.

* * *

"_**In the criminal justice system, sexually-based defenses are considered especially hei…hey! We don't need the intro this time! Get on with the story!"**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**The SVU Squad**_

SVU Squad Room

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2005

Cragen was staying up late in the squad room looking around the closet upstairs in the crib.

"Damn it, where are those boxes?" he grumbled as moved some boxes around.

The past few weeks had been nothing, but cases. Now this week, it seemed the crime rate dropped to an all-time low. So the squad finished what was left of their case load and now were focused on the most challenging case of all.

Christmas.

Yes, the holidays officially arrived last Friday when Novak announced she had won her last case that Benson and Stabler had given her. The slowed crime rate began to show itself at the beginning of the week before. Now, the squad was free to do whatever they pleased. For most of the squad, it was Christmas shopping. For Cragen, it was trying to figure out what he did the squad room Christmas decorations.

"I know I put them up here," said Cragen, straightening up and scratching his bald spot, "It's just trying to remember…"

He looked above him and saw the box labeled, "XMAS STUFF."

"Yes!" he exclaimed as he pulled them down.

He carried the box down stairs and began to pull stuff out. He then realized that he was missing the big tree, so he went upstairs again, grabbed the box with the fake tree, and brought it down to the squad.

"We'll do this tomorrow," he muttered as he set the box down with the fake tree.

He returned to the first box he brought down to the squad room. It had stockings, garland, and lights.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas…," Cragen began to sing as he took out the garland and began to trim the squad room entrance doors.

* * *

Yeah, I know it begins like the regular SVU one I posted, but don't worry! But did you notice something different?Anyway, thesecond chapter is much more interesting. You'll see. Keep on reading! 


	2. Ch 2: Winter Frostyland

Now let's cite some stuff here.

First off, I don't know who owns the 'Winter Wonderland' lyrics, but I know I don't. Much would be obliged if someone could tell me the author of them.

Harry Potter and it's chracters are owned by Warner Brothers and J.K Rollowing.

The Chicken Soup Series is owned by the Soul Enterprises, Inc.

I don't own the SVU characters. Wolf does.

All I own is Amy Munch and all the other characters I create.

Enjoy!

**

* * *

ON THE WAY TO THE SVU SQUAD ROOM**

**Wednesday, December 23rd, 2005**

"Thanks for the ride, Amy," said Fin as he tried to warm his hands from the heater.

Fin's car broke down when he tried to start it that morning. He had it towed to the mechanic and could not believe that they would not get it fixed until after Christmas.

"I told Cragen your situation and he's given me some leniency because I have to drive to Brooklyn now to pick you up. Shame they couldn't get your car fixed before Christmas," said Amy.

Munch grunted from the back seat. "You're Jewish. Jews don't celebrate Christmas."

"Great, traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge," she said and slowed her car down, "Since you're going to be a pain in the ass, old man, then listen up carefully. You can too, if you want Fin."

"This is going to be good," said Fin.

"My father, your brother Uncle John, is Jewish. My mom is Hispanic. When I was five, they debated whether to open my presents on Hanukkah or Three Kings Day. They couldn't come to an agreement, so they settle on Christmas, on the agreement that they both taught me their holidays and told me to observe them."

"And?" asked Munch.

"I would only get presents on Christmas Day."

"So, your family let you open your presents on Christmas Day, but you observed not only Christmas Day, but Hanukkah and Three Kings Day. You just wouldn't get presents on those days," said Fin.

"Exactly," said Amy.

"I hate Christmas," muttered Munch.

"You hate everything about December, from snow to gingerbread cookies," said Fin, "And you never celebrate Hanukkah at the office."

"So?"

"So? Some people celebrate their holiday at the office with some…I don't know…uh…what's the word for I'm looking here…umm…item!"

"So you want me to bring in a menorah into the office and light a candle for eight days?"

"John, I'm saying you never celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, which by the way, is your native holiday."

"Look Fin, if I want your advice to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, then I'll ask for it."

"Boys! Come on now, it's Chris…I mean, the holidays! Let's be cheerful!" said Amy joyfully.

"Kinda hard when he's around," muttered Fin, "And what's with the Glad trash bag?"

Fin indicated to her Amy's huge, black purse.

"You never carried one of those…things."

"I've had it for quite sometime since Mr. Nine Lives here and his doctor gave him a boat load of medication for his wounds. You'd be surprised how much he has take and how much he needs to take with food and a non-alcoholic drink," said Amy.

She emphasized non-alcoholic. Fin assumed Munch had tried to take his medication with something he was not supposed to.

"I'm surprised you don't have a lock of some sort on it. You do know your uncle was a hippie back in the day," said Fin.

Munch kicked Fin's seat.

"Hey! Not fair! You can't do that!" cried Fin.

Amy sighed. "It's going to be a long drive."

* * *

At the station house, everyone got out of the car. Since they arrived late, all the parking spots were taken in the garage, so Amy had to park outside. Munch got out of the car and headed to the precinct. And that's when Amy saw the perfect opportunity. 

He had his back toward her. Amy got out of the car, leaving her front door open to hide her from his view. She gathered some snow from the ground and formed it into a ball. She shut her door and waited until Munch had his hand on the door.

"This is for making my car ride like hell," she thought and flung the snow ball at her uncle.

POP! POP!

Munch stopped and stood still for a moment. Amy looked at Fin who had his second snow ball ready to go.

"You idiot!" they both mouthed to each other.

They glanced from each other to Munch, who was walking inside. They hurried up the steps to apologize to him, but when they grabbed the door, it was locked.

Amy shook on it. "Hey! Open this door! It's freezing out here!"

"Hey!" Fin cried, "Someone open this door, right now!"

Munch kept walking down the hallway and nodded to the desk sergeant.

"You're a mean old man, Munch," said the desk sergeant.

"I know," said Munch and he winked as he stepped into the elevator.

Outside, Fin and Amy were debating.

"We're going to have to run around the whole block just to get into the back way!" exclaimed Fin.

"It's too cold for that, Fin," cried Amy.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" asked Fin.

Inside the squad room, Munch entered it humming. Benson and Stabler looked at him.

"Is that Munch…" began Stabler.

"Humming?" finished Benson.

They watched him hang up his trench coat, pausing to touch the garland, and then he sat down at his desk, playing with his hula doll.

"La ta te da da dum…" he kept whispering.

Benson and Stabler kept looking at him from time to time until finally they could not stand it any more.

"What's the occasion?" asked Benson.

"What occasion?" asked Munch.

"You're humming," said Stabler.

Just then, Fin and Amy walked into the squad room looking very cold.

"That's the occasion," said Munch as he pointed to them hanging up there coats.

"What did he do?" asked Benson to the pair.

"We both threw a snow ball at him because he made our lives miserable from Brooklyn to Manhattan," grumbled Fin.

"What can I say?" asked Munch with a smirk.

"Shut it, old man or you'll be getting more than snow balls when you're outside," growled Amy.

"So you guys finally show up," said Cragen, "Finally, we get to decorate the tree."

"Count me out of it," said Munch, "I hate…"

"We know, John. You hate Christmas," said everyone.

"And Hanukkah," added Amy.

"Arrrgh, bah humbug!" said an exasperated Munch and he folded his arms.

Fin and Amy looked around the squad room. Everyone had stockings on the side of their desks, including Munch and Amy. Multicolored lights were wrapped around the stair case and traced around the squad room. Garland was draped around the entrance of the squad room with a red bow in the middle. Globe ornaments hanged from their desk lamps and Cragen even had a stocking on the two interrogation rooms and his office door. He even wrapped his desk in golden colored lights. In the corner, near the lockers, stood the Christmas tree without lights or ornaments, but it had the tree skirt. The boxes of ornaments and lights lay near the tree, waiting to be put up.

"I had all this Christmas stuff gathering dust in my attic at my house. Since I practically live here at the squad room, I brought them here so everyone could enjoy them," said Cragen as he took a box and opened it.

"I'm doing lights!" said Stabler and he hopped up from his chair and grabbed the box of lights.

"You did lights last year El! My turn!" said Fin.

"It's just lights, guys," said Benson rolling her eyes.

"But you put the star on top of the tree," said Stabler.

"No, I did," said Munch.

"You?" asked Amy skeptically, "Put the star up? How much did they pay you to do that?"

"I just did it because I wanted to," he said looking away.

"For God's sake old man, if you want to participate, then come on! I'll still observe Hanukkah with you!"

Munch thought it over for a while, then sighed.

"What about music? We need music," he said.

Amy set down the box of ornaments she had and went to her computer.

"How's Winter Wonderland everyone?" she asked.

"Fine with us," replied everyone.

_Sleigh bells ring, are you listening  
In the lane, snow is glistening  
A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight  
Walking in a winter wonderland _

Gone away is the bluebird  
Here to stay is a new bird  
He sings a love song, as we go along  
Walking in a winter wonderland

In the meadow we can build a snowman  
And pretend that he is parson brown  
He'll say, are you married, we'll say, no man  
But you can do the job while you're in town

Later on we'll conspire  
As we dream by the fire  
To face unafraid the plans that we made  
Walking in a winter wonderland

The song has repeated twice and by the time they had finished, the squad room look completed with all the decorations. They sat in their chairs, looking at it.

"I still hate Christmas," said Munch.

Everyone rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Whatever John," said Benson.

They kept looking at it until the mail arrived and everyone went to go see what they got. They all received one invitation that looked the same.

"What's this?" asked Stabler waving the card in the air, "I usually get more than this."

"'You've been invited to a first annual gathering hosted by the NYPD on Christmas day at city hall. Starting at seven o' clock in the evening, you must bring a date and wear the formal attire as dictated below:'

'For men: A black and white tuxedo.'

'For women: A ball gown dress.'

'Please R.V.S.P to the phone number or address below'…what! A DANCE!" cried Amy, "I thought these things only existed in high schools!"

"And that's not all it says," said Benson, "There's going to be waltzing and it's advised that everyone knows how to waltz!"

"Great, and we have to bring someone," growled Munch.

"That's easy for you! You're still dating that reporter," said Fin.

"And I have no boyfriend," said Benson.

"This sounds interesting. Perhaps we should go," said Cragen, "What are you guys doing Christmas Day?"

"Nothing," everyone replied.

"Well then, that settles it. We're going to this," he said.

"Umm…Captain, usually Munch is the bearer of bad news, but I'm going to be the bearer bad news. First off, some us don't have dates. Two, some us don't have tuxes and elegant ball gowns. And three, we don't have the money to go shopping for a nice outfit!" yelled Benson.

"So?" asked Cragen, "Ever heard of a Christmas bonus?"

"There goes my hope of owning a new XBOX 360," sighed Fin.

Cragen rolled his eyes.

"Fine then, I can easily solve some of these matters. Benson, Stabler, you two can be each others' dancing partners. Fin, Amy you two can be partners, and Munch, you're dating that reporter, so you got that solved."

Munch stared at him. "What about you?" he asked.

"I can always ask Casey out. She still owes me a dinner, so this could count," said Cragen.

Everyone looked at him with confusing looks.

"Um, Captain, what about the people who have two left feet and don't know how to waltz or dance in particular?" asked Fin.

"I took dance lessons in high school. I can teach you guys how to waltz," said Cragen.

Everyone looked at him with more confusing looks.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that!"

"You know what? Why don't all of us celebrate Christmas here? In the squad room?" asked Stabler.

Cragen thought it over. "Okay, we'll do that then. No one would running late and we can all arrive at city hall on time. But after we open presents, the girls have to go upstairs and cannot come down until we are ready to leave."

"WHAT?" everyone asked.

"Well, it'll be more interesting," said Cragen shrugging, "I mean, us men lie in wait to see what our dates look like…"

"Fine then. Can we at least go out and find something for us today?" asked Amy.

Cragen gave her a sly smile.

* * *

**Corner of Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue**

**Mid Town**

**Manhattan**

Munch, Fin, and Amy walked down the sidewalk in the cold. They were looking at windows of the stores when Munch held up his hand.

"Need a break?" asked Fin.

Munch nodded and leaned against the wall. A spasm of pain passed through his stomach. He closed his eyes for a minute and held his side. Amy began to grow concerned.

"Are you okay? You wanna drive instead of walk?" she asked.

Munch opened his eyes and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I'll be okay."

Since Munch had been shot, he had been in and out of physical therapy. The bullet he took to his shoulder and stomach had messed up his muscles and now he was trying to train them back to their old selves. He had improved a lot in the past month, but every now and then, a spasm pain would pass either through his shoulder or stomach area and let him know that his muscles were not back to their full capacity yet.

"You sure?" asked Fin.

"Will you stop worrying about me!" exclaimed Munch, "If you haven't forgotten, we're looking for something to wear to this stupid ball Cragen told us to go to!"

He got back on his feet and began to walk a little faster. Fin and Amy looked at each other before running to catch up with him.

"Slow down, will you?" said Amy raising her voice, "I don't want to hurt yourself."

"I'm not going to hurt myself," grumbled Munch.

Fin could not believe what he was hearing from Munch. Usually Munch acted like an ass around the holidays, but usually he could control it. But for some reason this holiday season, it seemed all those years of repressing of what he had been really wanting to say about the holidays was now coming out. Or could it be the medication?

Another spasm of pain on the same side. This time, Munch gave into it and sat down at a nearby bench. Amy ran to him, her voice nearly reaching the point of hysterical.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" she asked upsettingly.

Munch tried to say fine, but this spasm of pain left him breathless. He shook his head no.

"Don't be faking man," said Fin warily, "Don't make your niece look so gullible just because you want a few pills."

Munch glared at Fin. Amy set her purse down and began to dig through it.

"He's not faking this one. The doctor told him to take it easy. Doing that fast pace walk, I knew something like this would happen."

She pulled out one of the many little orange bottles in her purse, along with a bottle of water and an apple.

"Eat this before you take it," she said.

"It's twenty degrees outside! You expect him to eat that! It could be frozen!" asked Fin.

But Munch answered Fin's question. He took the apple and began to eat it. Fin took the time to steal a glance at Amy's open purse where he saw seven bottles, all of them nearly filled to the top with pills and the lids had different colors to distinguish them from one another.

"What the hell is he taking?" asked Fin bewildered.

"A few muscle relaxants, a couple of pain killers that won't make him sleepy, but they'll make him happy for a few hours, and one that helps with the digestive track, which reminds me…"

Amy trailed off as she pulled out another bottle and took out another pill.

"Why does he need that?"

"Because Fin, one of the bullets managed to hit a certain area where food moves from the stomach to the intestines. He can digest solid food, but it has to be little pieces when he chews it and whatever doesn't dissolve in that stomach, this pill comes in and helps out with the process."

"Seems complicated."

Munch let out a laugh.

"You think? She colored the lids so she could distinguish from one another," he said.

Amy cheeks were already red from the cold, but Fin could tell she was blushing as they turned to a darker red.

"Hell, I would get confused too, old man. I would find some organization process so I could tell the difference between them. So don't go making fun of her just because she cares about you and is actually taking the time to see what she can give you. Knowing you, you wouldn't had cared about what to take!" he said.

"Caring! You think she cares? It's beyond that now. It's like I have a mom all over again. She comes with me to the doctor appointments, to physical therapy, makes me do my required exercise at night, and makes sure I eat and drink the stuff I'm suppose to. She's become the worrier of the century and if she can't make it to the doctor or physical therapy appointments, Emily comes with me."

"But you don't mind if Emily comes now, do you?" said Fin angrily.

Munch turned even a darker red than Amy.

"That's not the point," Munch said darkly.

"Oh, it is the point alright old man. You care if a family member goes with you because you know when you go home, she's going to be nagging at you until you do something from your physical therapy or something the doc said. But if it's with your precious girlfriend, you know she won't force you because she likes you, hell she might even love you for that matter!"

"What the f--k do you know about me and Emily! Nothing is going on between us to make it seem like we're serious. We just go out and have dinner or drinks, nothing special. You keep her out this Odafin!"

"Oh, so now the Munchkin Senior is feeling embarrassed about his girlfriend or ashamed? Or maybe it's because your shy since you can't get it up anymore with out the help of a…"

"ENOUGH!"

Amy was shaking so violently, neither of them had notice. Whatever anger they felt now turned to shame.

"I'm going back to the car," she said, "When you decided you have grown up and bought what you guys needed for this dance, then join me and we'll go back to the house."

"Amy, what about you?" asked Fin.

"I'm going to call Cragen and tell him I'm leaving early as soon as I drop you off. I have no paperwork to do, so there's no point staying the whole day at work with assholes like you guys. Fin, I appreciate you standing up for me, but it went beyond the subject here. This argument is between me and my uncle. I understand you were there with him when he got shot, but I'm the one who's been going to every doctor and physical therapy appointment with him and who gives him the medication when it's time," she said.

"But…"

"Screw this stupid dance. I'm not going," she said and stormed off back to the car.

Munch and Fin both looked at her walking back to the car.

"Nice going," they both said turning to each other.

Then they both fell silent. Neither one wanted to start a conversation out of the fear that they would fall into an argument again. But Fin hated seeing Munch and Amy mad at each other and he also hated being in the middle.

"Look John, I know you don't like the holidays. And to take in the recent events from this past year, it's all the more for you to hate it. But don't you have at least a shred of compassion to just for once celebrate it and be happy around Amy?"

"Question: Are you my rabbi or are you my conscious?" Munch said.

"I'm neither! Will you stop acting like an idiot and approach this with some seriousness! This is your niece, you know, the long lost one you forgot to keep in contact after you put in the orphanage? Come on man!"

"You're my conscious," muttered Munch.

"Will you just listen to me for a sec?"

"When I feel like it."

"Fine then, old man. Do whatever the hell you want. Just finish your apple, take your medication and let's go get what we need for this dance."

Munch silently finished his apple and took his medication. His mood still not had improved.

* * *

Meanwhile, Benson and Stabler were having a much better time together and they had already bought their outfits. Now they were just walking around, looking at the shops as they went and hoping to get a glance of the others in their outfits. 

"I finished all my Christmas shopping for the kids yesterday. I gave Kathy a call to see what they liked for Christmas a few days ago and I couldn't believe what they wanted at the top of their list," said Stabler.

"What?" asked Benson, "Was it expensive stuff?"

"No, it was books."

"Books?"

"Yeah, books. The twins wanted the latest Harry Potter book and Kathleen wanted something from that Chicken Soup series. I couldn't believe it."

"So, did you buy them?"

"Buy them! Of course I did, Liv! Any parent would have to be crazy to pass up that opportunity."

"Maybe they could be kissing up for something cool, like a new video game system," said Benson.

"Why did you go and ruin a father's happy moment that his kids want to read? If they do want that, then they would have to work for it and get it themselves. They got that computer and it's bad enough that Maureen got them that Star Wars Podracing game. I had to buy an extra USB port thingy and controllers so they could all play. It was like they forgot the peaceful way of sharing. It was not cheap, I'll tell you," said Stabler.

"What's actually cheap in this world, El? Amy last Friday kept bitching to me that my cup of coffee now jumped to over four dollars a cup from $3.84 plus tax."

"What do they put in it? Pure imported coffee beans and sugar cane?" snickered Stabler.

"She asked me the same thing only with more adjectives," Benson said, shrugging, "I honestly didn't know. I had purchase my cup of coffee since Fin joined."

"Fin never complains though. He keeps to himself."

"Right and Munch has never said a conspiracy in his life El. He too has complained before."

"Just never about the 3.84 dollar cup of coffee, plus tax."

Benson punched him playfully on the shoulder.

* * *

**Munch's Apt.**

Amy walked in her uncle's apartment and set her keys down on the kitchen counter. She felt tired, but at the same time, agitated.

Cragen asked why she didn't want to come to work. She pretty much gave him a beat-around-the-bush excuse that Munch and Fin had once again got into an argument, but this time they really pist her off. Cragen sighed and told her they would get over it. She hung up on him.

"Get over it? Right! The fight wasn't over the Bush Administration this time," she muttered.

She sat down on the couch. She had not been to the library since in months, so she had not a single piece of reading material to take her mind off things. Well almost nothing.

She went into her room and changed into her gym outfit and put on her boxing gloves. From the closet, she took out her punching bag on a stand. And then she began to box.

One, two, three, four, five, rest, one, two, three, four, five, rest…

"Why is it that I always have to be on the receiving end of everything?" she thought, "Teasing, ridicule, criticism, arguments, it never ends and it gets old! I thought I prove myself to them, to him, but it seems I haven't done enough. What more can I do on the job?"

One, two, three, four, five, rest, one, two, three, four, five, rest…

"This ordeal of him evading the subject of Emily, what's his problem? Doesn't he love her? Why does he keep buying her the same batch of Lily of the Valleys or take her to a movie? Why does he insist on talking Russian around her or her insisting he talk some Yiddish and he does it for her? He loves her, that much I know is certain. Why won't he admit it?"

One, two, three, four, five, rest, one, two, three, four, five, rest…

"Why can't he show that inner self I see here all the time? Uncle John is never this cynical when I'm around. He's nice and caring. Did that shooting change him? I know it changed his views on the government, but he couldn't have change, could he? I know he's nice deep down inside, I can feel it!"

WHAM!

Her last punch came with such force, she had pushed her bag back into the wall.

"Goddamn it!"

She threw her gloves on the ground and sat on her bed. Amy sighed and went under her bed. She pulled out a very thick, leather-bound book.

Her photo album.

She began flipping it through it. Memories, freeze-framed by a Polaroid or Canon camera, had captured her first spaghetti dinner while she was a baby, riding the carousel at the local fair, Disney world…

* * *

Munch walked inside his apartment. He sighed and put his hat and trench coat on the coat rack. 

He sat down on his lazy boy. The rest of his work day, as Fin had put it succinctly while riding home with him, sucked.

Munch had found out two things that contributed to this. One was he was not a good waltzer. He was a good swinger, yes, but not a good waltzer. The second thing was he had been more of an ass than anytime in his life, well perhaps the second time.

"No!" whispered Munch, "I've got to put that behind me! That's not the…"

But it was. Munch hated the holidays because they reminded him of one event that had happen when he was young.

"There's no point acting like this, and above all people, to her," Munch sighed.

He notice Amy's bedroom door was shut, an obvious sign she showed no interest in talking to her uncle. Munch ignored it and knocked on her door anyway.

Amy jerked her head from the book at the sound of knocking coming from her door. Munch's head peeked in.

"Hi," he said sheepishly.

"Bye," said Amy harshly, "Please leave a message after the designated beep after I return from my trip down nostalgia lane."

"Where's the beep?" asked Munch.

"Go to hell and leave me alone you…"

"You jack ass old man from the netherworld who does not have his priorities straight and is overly medicated."

Amy scowled.

"What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Yes, we did that. Now I'm done. Goodnight!"

And Amy rolled over on her bed and gave him her back.

"Amy," sighed Munch and went inside.

"I thought I indirectly told you to get out. Now here it is directly…get out," she mumbled.

"I came to apologize," he said sitting on the bed.

Amy sat up and looked at him.

"I vented and I got carried away. Don't know what happen."

"I know the answer. It's the holidays. You hate them," she said and rolled back over on her bed.

"No, that answer is stupid. I just…well…nowthatyourehereIhavetheflashbacksreoccurringmorethanever."

"What flashbacks?" asked Amy, turning her head.

"Amy, my dad, he…"

Amy sat up again.

"What did he do that's making you act like the way you are?"

"He didn't do anything. I always thought it was my fault though. He committed suicide around Christmas. I'm always in a bad mood around this time of year, but now that you're here, I just remember it more often than I want to," said Munch, finally.

Amy said nothing.

"I come home with Isaac and Bernie from school. We had a fight the night before…I had been my usual wise-ass self…and I didn't say a word to him we left for the bus that morning. I said I hated his guts that horrible night he punished me. I come home that day and I see his badge on the counter. He was a cop, you know. I thought it was odd, he didn't come home until late during the weekdays. My mom was with a friend shopping. I went to go to the bath room and…"

Munch sniffed and held back his sob.

"He shot himself. One bullet, through the head, clean and simple. I called his squad and his partner and plus another guy he knew, took the call. All his partner had to do was run the shower to wash away the blood, showing the bullet."

"He acted so cheerful around us. Abnormally cheerful that year he died. I thought it was because of the holidays. But he was suffering and I didn't know it. I hated myself for it and I hate the holidays afterwards. I hate people acting cheerful around me, I can't stand it. They remind of…"

"Grandpa, camouflaging their real feelings," finished Amy.

Munch nodded. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.

"Anyway, I probably don't deserve your forgiveness. I gave another stupid reason…"

He went to get up, but Amy put her hand on his. He looked at her and she was smiling with a sad look in her eye.

"No, you do. I had no idea. Dad never told me," said Amy.

"Isaac was too young to remember, but Bernie was old enough."

"Explains why you two were never close."

"Never close...he tried to turn Isaac against me by saying it was my fault. He still blames me for Dad's death you know. When my mom found out, she brought the house down. I had never seen her so angry. Talk about a frosty Christmas that year. He never said it out in the open again, but it would always explain the differences we had."

"Did you find out what made Grandpa so depressed?" asked Amy.

"It turned out to be work. He got a pretty gruesome murder on the west side of Baltimore and I guess he couldn't take it," said Munch.

"Grandpa worked in Homicide?" asked Amy.

"Yeah. Talk about a family tradition. And why do you call him 'Grandpa'? You've never met him."

"No, but Dad would always tell me stories about him when he looked through this."

Amy pointed to the photo album.

"Hey! I thought Isaac got rid of this!" exclaimed Munch and began to flip through it.

"Dad never got rid of it, he kept adding to it. The binding is about to break though."

Munch kept flipping through it.

"First spaghetti meal?" asked Munch with a smirk as he came across Amy's first spaghetti dinner.

"Hey! That's private!" cried Amy as she took the photo album and began to flip through it. She stopped at a photo of Munch and her family.

"Ahhh…I remember this…Eighty's glasses!" she said laughing.

Munch grabbed the album.

"Those were the in-thing back then!" exclaimed Munch.

"Magnifying your eyes three times their normal size with a brown tint in the lenses was considered an in-thing back then? What about now?"

"Smaller is better," said Munch stiffly.

"You mean not getting laughed at is better."

"Amy, you wear glasses too!"

"Yes and when I was eight, I wore similar frames without the tint. I wanted the tint though."

Munch shook his head.

"You know, let's go out."

Amy did a double-take.

"Excuse me?"

"No, not like that!" said Munch, rolling his eyes, "I mean out to eat. Then we could swing over to the library and I need to swing over to my storage shed to pick up something."

Amy smiled and slid off her bed.

"And could we pick up my dress?" Amy asked.

"You changed your mind about the dance?"

"What do you mean changed my mind? Haven't you learned anything from me and my frustrated states? Never take anything I say in anger seriously.

Munch gave her his signature look over the glasses and Amy smile's turned serious.

"You feel up to it?" she asked as she looked through her closet to find something to wear.

Munch followed suit and looked at her before closing the door.

"Would I suggest something like this if I wasn't up to it?" he asked smartly.

The answer to his question was one of Amy's boxing gloves thrown at him just as he shut the door.

* * *

Before you starting screaming, let me tell you why I think Munch's father commited suicide around the holidays. Munch said in HLOTS (Homicide: Life On The Street) that most suicides occur around Christmas or the holidays in general. Whether Munch was spouting this off because hecouldn't understand why Bolander was decorating a tree, Crossetti, or some other unknown reason (which mine happens to fall in) remains unknown. If you remember from the Painless episode, Munch got punished "for being a wise ass" the night before his father died. Munch's father was a cop, so maybe hesaw something or caught a case he couldn't get it out of his mind. When Munch starts acting like a smart ass that night, his father repremands him for it. Now, maybe Munch's father said something along the lines that Munch wouldn't get what he wanted for Christmas if he kept up that smart-allec attitude. Munch's reply was what he said in Painless "I hate your guts." The last words he ever said to his father. Munch walks out to go to school with his younger brothers without saying goodbye to him. He comes home from school later, sees his father badge on the counter, walks into the bathroom, and then finds his father with a bullet through him. Bernie (Munch's brother in the funeral biz) in Homicide hated Munch for being "Mommy's favorite," but maybe it goes deeper than that, so I suggested he still blamed him for his father's death. I know it sounds childish, but then again, have you always held a grudge with a sibling? 

Anyway, that's my theory. So, you like? Could you tell me by R&R please?


	3. Ch 3: Let The Snow Come Down

Hey everyone! Sorry this took me so long to update! I gotta cite some stuff. First off, I don't own Have Yourself A Merry Christmas lyrics, I don't own anything that Nintendo owns, which includes their logo, games, mascot, I don't anything by Swarovski, I don't own Vicoprofen, and finally I don't own SVU. The only thing I own is Amy Munch. Enjoy!

* * *

The next morning, Amy woke up at the sound of her alarm. Today would be colder than yesterday. The high would only be ten degrees and a snow storm was expected to come late in the afternoon. She moaned in her pillow. 

"Oh no."

Munch was already up in his robe on and sitting on the couch when Amy opened the door. It was a little cold in the apartment. Munch was looking longfully at the phone.

"Hey," she said, rubbing her arms, "Why is so chilly in here? Now I wished I stayed in bed. Today's going to get to the ten degree mark."

"I know," said Munch, "I just turned up the heat now. It'll take a few minutes to warm up."

Amy sat down next to him. He took the throw blanket and wrapped it around her.

"Here, wear this until does. You're starting to shake a little bit. I probably would too. Right now the temp is negative fifteen outside," he said as he wrapped it around her.

"Thanks," Amy said.

"Here, I'll make us some coffee. That'll warm you up," said Munch.

But Amy was not paying attention to him. She was looking from the coffee table, to the entertainment center, to the kitchen, and finally her eyes rested upon a tree that stood up in the corner, decorated. Her eyes were very big and her mouth was open in shock. She started to make weird sounds.

"About time you notice," said Munch, not looking up, but he was smiling to himself.

"Those boxes though…you said they were annulment papers!" Amy finally managed to say.

"Well, I lied," said Munch smugly, setting the cups on the tray as soon as he filled them with coffee.

Amy burst into laughter and then smiled at him.

"You didn't have to do this," she said.

"After yesterday, I thought I should. I mean, we're going to celebrate Christmas, right? And I was going to give you something on Christmas Day, but I then I thought, 'Why the hell not? Let's go all out.' I just hope it's good enough for you. Most of the stuff was yours from your parents. I hope you don't mind," said Munch as he set down the mugs of coffee.

"No, I don't. I love it all. Thank you so much!"

And she hugged Munch.

Munch blushed a little, but he returned the hug. He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Hey, usually Leena and some old academy friends of my mine usually go to Podley's on Christmas Eve for a drink. You think, if you do have anything tonight, I can drop you off and have the person you are hanging out with take you home?" Amy asked, looking up at him.

"You read my mind," said Munch.

"You were looking at the phone earlier," Amy said, now sitting up and grabbing her mug.

"I hadn't called Emily about the dance yet," said Munch, grimacing.

"Why not?" Amy asked confused.

"I don't know what to say to her! I feel like I'm high school again," he said frustrated.

Amy raised one eyebrow.

"Just ask her!"

Munch looked at her.

"Oh, I can imagine how that will go. 'Hi, Emily. It's me, John. My squad and I are going to a dance that the brass is hosting. Would you like to come with me? Okay, fine. Bye.' Such an interesting conversation, Amy."

"You're making a big deal of a small thing. Maybe you had something else in mind."

"Well, we hadn't had dinner in a while…"

"Good luck trying to find place if you want to take her out tonight. It's Christmas Eve, every place in this city is bound to be packed."

"I know that."

"For God sakes, just call her! Ask her if she wants to go out to eat and then ask her if she wants to spend the day with the squad tomorrow because of the dance. Sheesh! This is not a big deal!" exclaimed Amy, throwing her hands up in the air and muttering a few things in Spanish.

"Fine," Munch said, rolling his eyes.

He picked up the phone and began to dial her number. He heard three rings before she answered it.

"Hello?" said Emily into her phone.

Munch froze on the spot. Amy stepped on his foot.

"Hi, Emily," said Munch trying to camouflage his pain.

"John! It's good to hear you! How are you? Do I need to come with you to an appointment or something?" Emily asked.

"No, ummm, this is just an offer I thought you might like," said Munch, now finally starting to gain confidence.

"An offer?"

"Well, it's Christmas Eve and we hadn't been out in a while…"

Amy made hand gestures that urged him to keep going with the conversation.

"Would you like to go out and eat with me?" he asked Emily.

"Sure, I would love to!" said Emily excited.

"Well, you pick the place. Where do you want to go?"

"I'd figure that little diner we always eat at, if it's open."

"It should be I think. It's next to a precinct."

"Well then, that's great. What do you want to do? Meet there?"

"Ummm…well, they're calling for snow…"

"I'll drive you there!" hissed Amy.

Munch gave Amy look that pretty much said "_Do you know how shameful it is to have your niece drop you off at your date?"_

"Well, Amy's going to be dropping me off. She's going to hangout with some friends tonight. Could we meet at your place?"

"Okay then, that's fine. I'll take you home then. So, I'll see you around…say…seven o'clock?"

"Sounds great. Oh…and I have another question."

"What?"

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Not…really. Why are you asking?"

Munch felt himself tense up.

"Well…there's this…dance being hosted by the department and…ummm…I was wondering…do you have a ball gown or fancy dress?"

Amy put her hand to her head and resisted the urge to sigh. Munch glared at her.

"Well, yes I have a fancy dress."

"Do you want to go out with me on Christmas with my squad and dance?" he asked.

Silence over the other end of the phone. Munch grew nervous.

"Sure," said Emily, finally, "I would love to go."

"Okay, then. Well, I'll see you tonight at seven."

"Okay, bye John. Have a good day."

"You too."

And Emily hung up.

Munch sat there with the phone still up to his ear. Amy cocked her head to one side.

"You can hang up now," she said.

Munch put the phone down.

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" he yelled.

"Believe what?" asked Amy.

"All of this! What we've been through, the squad, this dance…what does it all mean!"

"I didn't know you were a philosopher in your spare time, Uncle John. Just don't quit your day job. Right now, we need to be getting ready for work if we want to arrive on time. Remember, we're picking up Fin."

"Oh, yeah," said Munch and he got up from the couch to take a shower while Amy cleaned up their mugs.

* * *

**One Police Plaza**

**Thursday, December 24th, 2005**

Cragen walked into the One Police Plaza building in full uniform. His presence had been requested by the Deputy Commissioner earlier that morning before the squad came in. He walked down the hall to the Deputy Commissioner's office.

"Um, excuse me," said Cragen to the secretary as he took off his hat, "The Commissioner called me this morning. He said it was an urgent meeting."

"Ahhh…yes, he is expecting you. Please sit down. I do believe he is finishing a phone call."

Cragen sat down with his hat in between his arm and waited for fifteen minutes before the Deputy Commissioner called him in.

"Ah, Captain Cragen," said the Commissioner, "Please do sit down. May I take your hat and coat?"

"Sure, thank you," said Cragen as he took off his coat and gave both that and his hat to the Commissioner. The Commissioner hung them up on the coat rack.

"So, what do you need to see me about?" asked Cragen.

"I just wanted to let you know that your precinct will be going under renovations as of January," he said.

"Well…that's great," said Cragen, surprised, "Um, where will our squad be going for that time?"

"The 2-7 offered accommodations for your squad. As of the January 5, 2006, your squad is to be reporting for work there. The renovations will be completed some time in the first week of February. It seems your precinct really needed the tune up."

"Oh yes," said Cragen as his mind wander off to the other day when the Computer Crimes section of the building had experienced technical difficulties with the phone lines and his squad had run into difficulties as well with the booking database system.

"Also, I figured you would want to know ahead of time that I'm requiring all CID units, such as Homicide and SVU, to go under psych evaluations," said the Commissioner, "I feel that we need to interview the detectives. There have been a few events in some of these units that have been brought to my attention and I think they need to be addressed."

"But sir," said Cragen, "My squad went under an evaluation during the Eugene Hoff Cult investigation. And, they were…"

He paused. Cragen wanted use the word "Guinea Pigs," but decided against it.

"…Evaluated by a psychologist six years ago. All of them were cleared and fit for duty, even though some needed some time off or they needed to be transferred," he finished.

"I know, but if we're going to do this to these certain units, then I best feel that all CID units get evaluated. Besides, you have a new addition to your squad and the Eugene Hoff Cult psych evaluations that you are talking about were just build-up tensions from what your squad saw in that apartment row house," said the Commissioner.

"Well, when are they going to happen?"

"I thought about scheduling them some time in February, like the second or third week for your unit. I'm only doing this for the safety of the public. It is important that we maintain good public relations…"

The Commissioner's voice was muffled by the commotion in Cragen's head. He could not believe what the Commissioner was saying. In less than two months, his squad would once again be at the mercy of shrink! To hell with public relations, anyone in the lower ranks could have told him that his squad was being shrinked again, but for the Commissioner to call him to his office and tell this to him in person? So now everything made sense. The high-school like dance…it was just an event, a ploy thrown by the department, not only to make look good in the eyes of the public, but it also was a farewell party to any detectives that the Commissioner saw unfit for duty. And worst of all, Cragen could not do a damn thing about it.

"YOU!" Cragen finally manage to say.

The Commissioner stopped talking.

"You…you…you little…you little back-stabbing rat! No, you're even worse than the God-forsaken rats at IA. This is all about what happened last month! You're not going to interview all the CID units, you're just going to interview mine! Why? Is it because I have 'problem children? You're not doing this to look good in the eyes of the public, this dance that you're throwing. Someone gave you money for this. Why…why are you following their orders to single-out my unit?"

The Commissioner gave Cragen a confused look.

"Are you suggesting that I am involved in a conspiracy to single-out your unit and get your one or some of your detectives fired?" asked the Commissioner, whose temper began to rise.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm so glad you caught on so quickly. This dance ordeal you're doing for my squad? It's a bunch of bull and if we were not required to go to this event out of the fear of getting screwed by you, we would have told you to shove the offer up your mouth because we have better times together in my squad room. But it seems like we're going to get screwed later on by you in February. So the question now is, do we still tell you to shove this dance ordeal up your mouth or do we go to this dance, which is basically saying to my squad who has been loyal to you 'Thank you for serving the NYPD, now take your pension and hand over your service weapon and badge' and have a 'good' time?"

"Captain Cragen…" began Commissioner, angrily.

"I know Hammond has pushing you to do this! He suspects that one of my detectives went out and found Detective John Munch, but since we had two of his suspects he had been pursuing for a long time, Detective John Munch was basically an exchange for them with while he had the power to reincarnate my detective! Well, let me tell you something. My squad made no contact with Munch whatsoever!"

"Captain Cragen," said the Commissioner a little louder.

"I gave them an order not to find him! The suspect we found, well I wasn't going to let a sexual motivated homicide remain open! So yeah, maybe that was my fault, telling them to finish Detective John Munch's case, but they went no further! We got the perp before Hammond did, and now Hammond's sore about losing Detective John Munch because he wanted to make our lives miserable again like he did with ADA Alexandra Cabot! It was his fault for letting Detective John Munch go! I told you all this in my report about the Ramos case and how it went down! Why are you bringing this up…"

"CAPTAIN CRAGEN!" yelled the Commissioner.

Cragen realized he was shouting and stopped.

"Yes, I received your report about the Ramos case and yes, I know what happened between you and the government. But this, in no way, is pushed by them. You are to have your detectives evaluated by the second – third week of February, no excuses. That's an order from your superior. In fact, I'll be a little nice since it's Christmas Eve. I'll let you choose the psychologist of your choice. How's that? Now, if you don't mind, I have to call the other Captains about this so if you will excuse me, I have work to do!" snarled the Commissioner.

Cragen eyed the Commissioner angrily before he took and his coat and hat. He saluted him on the way out and slammed the door shut. He walked in silence back to his car in the parking garage.

"SON OF A BITCH!" He roared once he got inside and Cragen slammed the steering wheel.

**

* * *

SVU Squad Room **

Cragen walked out from the elevators and toward the squad room doors when he stopped. From the frosted glass, he could make out everyone was there and having a good time. Stabler seemed to mocking someone's waltzing, which happened to be Fin's because he threw a paper wad and said "Idiot."

Cragen's anger flared up again, but now it turned into sorrow. It was wrong what the departmental dogs were making him do. At least he could choose a psychologist which he had no trouble in that. He would call in Huang, but knowing Huang, he was a professional. He would not only have to send a report him, but to the Commissioner as well.

Cragen knew each one of his detectives had demons. Some he was more worried about than others, as they were ticking time bombs if tossed in a situation like this. He needed to do something. The Commissioner said nothing about warning his detectives about the evaluations, nor did he say anything about them facing their demons before the evaluations as well.

Cragen walked into the squad room. The squad stopped fooling around at once.

"Before you carry on with your idiocies, I have bad news and good news," Cragen said.

"Let me guess the good news. You saved money by…" began Stabler.

"No, not that kind of good news, Elliot. The Commissioner called me to his office this morning. Coming in January, the 1-6 precinct will be experiencing renovations and we will be relocating to the 2-7 for work until the first week in February."

"Yes," said everyone.

"And you guys are going to be shrinked again in the second or third week of February."

"WHAT!" shouted everyone.

"I know, I know, I was just as shocked as you guys are now," said Cragen.

"Damn…" began Munch, but he could not finish his sentence.

Amy bowed down her head.

"It's because of me, isn't it, Cap'n?" she said quietly.

Cragen walked toward her and put his hand on her shoulder. He did not know what to say.

"I don't know if it was because of you and the fiasco of last month. But I do know that these scumbags are throwing this dance as a farewell party because they want to fire one or some of you guys," he said, now turning and facing at everyone, "And I, for one, will not let them go on a fishing expedition in my station house."

He paused.

"All I know is this. They're going to go through with it and Huang will be your shrink. I know you guys have inner demons, which means either you get them sorted out now, or risk having no job on the force."

He felt the squad squirm and shift their weight uncomfortably.

"I know how you all feel right now. It isn't fair to you guys. I tried everything I could to convince him not go with it. The truth of the matter is…"

Cragen felt himself tensing up.

"I just don't want to lose any of you guys to the departmental thickheads up on high," he whispered.

The squad remained silent. Cragen looked away from them.

"You know what? Do whatever the hell you want today. And if we do get a call, I'll be the one to take it. God knows I need some fresh air now. Screw of all this."

And Cragen went to his office and shut the door. The squad exchange glances.

"Did he just say indirectly that he thinks of us as family?" asked Benson.

"Yeah…he did…unless I heard otherwise," said Stabler.

"He did. Otherwise, he would not have spent the past five years spending Christmas with us and dragging me out of my apartment," said Munch.

Amy raised an eyebrow at Munch.

"Long story," whispered Fin in her ear, "Trust me, you don't want to know."

Amy shook her head.

"So now what do we do?" she asked.

"We follow his orders," said Stabler, "Do whatever the hell we want."

So the squad put on their coats and left the squad room while Cragen stayed in his office. His mood was miserable. He laid his head down on his desk.

**

* * *

Strawberry Diner **

**1049 Lexington Ave**

**Upper East Side**

"I don't get it," said Amy, poking her food that she had ordered.

The squad took Cragen's orders to heart. Stabler left early to spend time with his kids (his wife would have them on Christmas) and Benson decided to stay with Munch, Fin, and Amy since she had nothing else to do. They ended up going for lunch at the Strawberry Diner.

"Get what?" asked Munch with a mouth full of food.

"Cragen," she replied.

"Well, it was the Commissioner's fault he got him into that mood," said Fin, "Man, if that would have been me, I would have been on him so fast. What's he shrinking us for!"

"Because of me," said Amy and her mood darken.

"Hey, if it's because of you then we'll stand by you if you go down with this shrinking ordeal," said Benson, patting her on the back, "It was not your fault. You just listened to your heart. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah there is. What if someone gets removed because of me? You saw Cragen back there, he won't take it. I wouldn't be surprised if he took up the bottle again because I caused for one of his detectives to get fired."

"You don't know that," replied Benson.

"You know, I'm not supporting you Amy, but ever since we got that letter…" began Munch.

"Oh Jesus, John! Give it up already!" said Fin, frustrated.

"What?" asked Amy.

"Your uncle started ranting about this whole dance ordeal yesterday when you were not around. He thinks the NYPD got a donation from some one or some group to host this dance," said Benson, rolling her eyes.

"Well," said Munch, "Part of it was I was pist off and I needed to rant about something. But now looking at it, what are the reasons that they are throwing this event and making a huge ordeal about it, hmm? Doesn't it strike anyone odd that the NYPD has enough money to throw to such an event? They've been renovating precincts, adding new people to the force, promoting people, demoting people…all that takes money."

"John, as much as I would love to know what's going on, I would rather focus on getting through today and maybe cheering up the Captain, so that way he is in good spirits for tomorrow," said Benson.

"And as much as I know that you are my partner, if you don't stop ranting about this, you're going to be wearing your plate of food soon," added Fin, angrily.

Amy said nothing. She really wanted her uncle to keep ranting so she would not be forced to talk. She suddenly did not feel hungry and looked out the window. Fin noticed.

"You going to eat that?" he asked.

Amy shrugged and Benson stepped on Fin's foot.

"Ow!"

"Why don't we go outside and look at the shops, Fin?" said Benson, giving him a look.

"Well, let me pay for everything. I guess we'll see you guys back at the house," said Fin.

Munch shrugged.

"Maybe not. I haven't really decided yet and I don't know about her," he said.

Benson understood and dragged Fin out of the diner.

"You need to stop beating yourself up over last month's ordeal. You did what you thought was right," whispered Munch.

Amy looked at him.

"But I didn't know that the Commissioner was going to take it this far. Cragen took a lot of heat for me. I should've taken all of it."

"Cragen did what he thought was right. Deep down, I know Cragen wanted to go looking for me. It was not fair what they did to me, to you, to all of us. We knew that. Birds of a feather stick together, no matter what happens," said Munch pointing her fork at her.

Amy smiled briefly, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"Didn't you hear Cragen? They're going on a fishing expedition Uncle John…"

"I heard him loud and clear," said Munch waving his hand, "I'm not deaf, only when Fin's around though."

"He thinks of us as family. I'll never forgive myself if I break this family," said Amy.

"After what Fin told about last month, I'm surprised that you guys held together. They didn't fall apart because of you."

Munch looked at her.

"Look, it seems we both got some inner demons to fight. Next month, why don't we go somewhere, a vacation perhaps? Just you and me," said Munch.

"Where?" said Amy.

"You pick the place. I'll drive or fly if it's too far from here. Money is no factor. Remember I have a pension, you know."

"Baltimore," said Amy quietly.

"What was that?" asked Munch.

"Baltimore. Can we go to Baltimore? Can you show me where you and Dad grew up?"

"I'll do more than that. I'll show my old stomping grounds, what I did in my spare time…" said Munch, thinking of all the places he could show her.

"I know what you did in your spare time," said Amy, snickering.

"No, not that," said Munch, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, "This is funny."

"What?"

"I said I would never set foot in that city again, but you want to go. I'll make an exception for you because, from what I'm gathering, you never got the chance to see where Isaac grew up?" wondered Munch.

"Well if that's the case…" began Amy, now feeling guilty.

Munch gave her his signature look over the glasses as she began to second guess her answer. Amy nodded to answer Munch's question.

"Well then, it's settled. I'll sweet talk Cragen tomorrow, if he's in the mood. Why don't we go around the city and look at stuff?"

"You want to walk around the city in this weather?" asked Amy perplexed.

"Well I would like to go Rockefeller Center, but I don't want to walk," said Munch, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," said Amy, "Sorry. But why Rockefeller Center?"

"What else do we have to do? Cragen specifically said do whatever the hell you want now," Munch replied.

"You could be preparing for your date tonight."

"Munchkin!" hissed Munch.

Amy laughed.

"I believe we will never forget those orders he gave us," she said, shaking her head and grinning.

"Of course not. They will be as famous as Lt. Commander Vernon Geberth quote from the 80s," said Munch.

"'Remember, we work for God,'" said Amy, "But I think that applies to all units when you look at it."

Munch let out a short laugh.

* * *

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas,_

_Let your heart be light._

_From now on,_

_our troubles will be out of sight.

* * *

_

**SVU Squad Room**

Benson and Fin returned to the squad room to find Cragen re-reading a file. They brought in some donuts and milk. Cragen put his file down.

"Guys…" He began.

"Shut up. We're not going let you spend your day being miserable in your office, and that's that," said Fin.

"Besides, we brought donuts and milk. Do you know how hard it is to find donuts and milk on Christmas Eve when every precinct in this city has ransacked every donut place and corner gas station?" said Benson jokingly.

Cragen smiled and shook his head. He pushed all his worries aside and looked at the box of donuts.

"Any of them happen to be the jelly-filled or cream-filled kind?" he asked, smilingly.

Benson and Fin grinned.

* * *

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas,_

_Make the Yule-tide gay,_

_From now on,_

_our troubles will be miles away._

**

* * *

Rockefeller Center **

Munch got out of the car and looked around. It had started to snow. Amy got out. Munch extended his hand. Amy looked at it, then at him. After a moment's hesitation, she took it. Munch brought her close and wrapped his arm around her and they began walking around the square looking at the tree. He brushed the snow out of her hair. She had only been wearing ear muffs and a scarf along with her trench coat.

"You really need a hat, you know that?" he said.

"I know. I've been meaning to get one, like the one you're wearing now," said Amy.

"Don't be silly! Fedoras are for men!" exclaimed Munch.

"What about Carmen Sandiego? She wore a fedora," objected Amy.

"That woman who traveled the world stealing priceless artifacts?"

"Yeah, her. She was like James Bond, only she educated kids about the world around them."

"How can you admire someone who stole priceless artifacts on a game show which would later on become a cartoon?"

"I don't. I had always admired you. It wouldn't have matter if my parents had died or not, I would have been a detective just like you."

Munch stopped walking.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No."

Munch brought Amy closer to him.

"Geez, Munchkin. Why didn't you ever tell your parents?"

"They thought I could be something else better than a cop. But I always held on to that dream. It helped me get through life, a lot."

Munch looked up at the tree that stood in the center of Rockefeller.

"You're welcome then. I'm glad that I at least did something good in your life for once," he said.

"What do you mean 'for once?' You've done a lot of good things in my life, especially this past year," said Amy.

Munch looked down at her and smiled to himself. He mind wander back Isaac's apartment and that Christmas back in 1985. It had been snowing like now and he had been carrying Amy around his back. His brother told him to stop it, that he would be a bad influence, but he kept doing it up until her bed time.

He was not bad influence on her then and he certainly was not going to be one now.

"If only you could see her now, Isaac. You would be so proud of her, whether you wanted her to become a cop or not," he thought to himself.

Munch brushed the snow off her Amy's hair. Amy, who had been watching the ice skaters down below, looked up at him. He put his hat on her head.

"My turn to get the snow in the hair," he said.

The hat slid down Amy's head. It was a little too big for her. Munch laughed and Amy laughed too.

"She kinda looks good in a Fedora," thought Munch.

* * *

_Here were are as in olden days,_

_happy golden days of yore._

_Faithful friends who are dear to us_

_gather near to us once more._

**

* * *

The New Yorker Office Main Building **

**10036 Four Times Square**

Emily Smith sat in her office, looking out the window as the snow fell to the bustling people below. A lot had happen in the past year, especially that last half. She met Munch on the street by accidentally running into him. It was only when she got to her office when she recognized the name from an old article she had read many years ago in the newspaper. To make things even more coincidental, she was thinking about her divorce with her husband when she ran into him and how he would mention later on, he was a quadruple divorcee.

Yes, she said she would break it after a few drinks, maybe one dinner or lunch. After all, he was a quadruple divorcee! That was pretty much a dead giveaway that he did not know how to treat women. That was not until she heard the full story of why they all left. Work or another man as had been in the last one's case.

Then she heard the stories of his current work. A couple times she had volunteered to help, to get Munch in touch with reporters she knew well, but he rejected the offer saying his boss would shoot him.

His life seemed stable. He had found his niece and his partner was the referee in case the fights between him and her got out of hand, but that was normal with family members. And Amy was a sweet girl. She had met Amy a few times and she seemed level-headed (Munch said it was just an act she was putting on while she was around). She also cared for Munch as this past month she had demonstrated with his physical therapy sessions.

So why did she keep going out with him? Did she felt sorry for Munch? Did she admire what he did at his age? Did she admired how he was trying to right a wrong that he committed ten years ago everyday as he said to her last time when they were driving to his station house?

She did not know. Yet, he made her laugh and would take her any where she wanted to go. Andrew had never been that way, but John Munch was different. Sure, yet unsure of himself and loyal to those he held dear in his heart.

She smiled to herself and suddenly remembered she had a four o'clock dead line with her article she was proof reading. She began to work on it again, but her mind did not entirely give up on the thoughts of John Munch.

* * *

_Through the years we all will be together_

_If the Fates allow_

_Hang a shining star upon the highest bough._

_And have yourself a merry little Christmas now._

**

* * *

Elliot Stabler's Residence **

Maureen, who had been watching her younger siblings, saw her father walk through the door.

"Dad! What are you doing home early?" she asked surprised.

"Cragen let me off early. How's everything?" asked Stabler as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Food's doing almost done and doing fine and so are my brother and sisters. They're dying to open the presents," she replied.

"Good, good. Well, we'll let wait a little longer on the presents. Let's eat, then open the presents," said Stabler, smilingly.

"Dad, they're not going to be happy with that."

"I know. Speaking of your siblings, where are they?"

"Backyard. Snowball fight," said Maureen.

"Oh. How many more minutes on the food?"

"Fifteen."

"Okay, I distract the kids while you make sure the house does not burn down," he said as he took off his trench coat and put on his winter one and hat.

"Very funny, Dad," said Maureen, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"Yeah, I do mind committing suicide with my siblings when it comes to snowball fights, so I'll stay in and watch the food."

"Thanks Maureen."

"No problem, Dad."

And Stabler ran out into the back yard to play with his kids in their snow ball fight while Maureen watched them from the window.

* * *

_And have yourself a merry little Christmas now._ **

* * *

Munch's Apt. **

Munch was in his room getting ready for the night ahead while Amy was getting ready to go to Podley's. Munch however was having trouble deciding on a tie with his suit he had laid out on the bed.

"Blue, black, red…I have a green one?" wondered Munch aloud as he came across a green tie in his drawer.

Munch gave up and went back to his closet to see what else he had to wear.

Amy walked out of her room and looked out the window. The snow had not let up since noon and it was still falling the same, slow pace. Already, four inches of snow had accumulated and it showed no sign of stopping, which worried Amy.

"Man, the roads are going to be killer tomorrow. They say they got the trucks out, but it looks like it's not doing a damn thing at all," she said, "They've already said that they might close the bridges."

"They always say that," said Munch, "Usually they toss enough sand or salt and the bridges are okay. Do you realize how many traffic jams there will be if they closed the bridges?"

Amy looked away from the window and looked at her uncle who was standing in the door frame.

"Nice," said Amy, "I see you got the black section of the color wheel covered."

Munch was wearing an all-black Calvin Kline suit with a black short-sleeved dress shirt. He did not look bad in it. In fact, he looked pretty damn sexy, but Amy was not going to pass up the opportunity of poking fun at him for not wearing more color.

"What?" said Munch, slightly offended, "This is nice!"

"We need to update your wardrobe, specifically with more color," she said looking at him.

"I have do have color! It's all in the ties."

"You're not wearing any ties, Uncle John."

"Well, what about your wardrobe? All it has is jeans, hoodies, and t-shirts besides your five-days-a-week work clothes," protested Munch, "And what's with the Nintendo logo on that one?"

Munch pointed to Amy's hoodie which was red with the Nintendo logo on the front.

"I like Nintendo and it was on special," said Amy.

Munch shook his head and looked up at the ceiling.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Five thirty. Why?"

"Hold on a second."

Amy gave her uncle a peculiar look as Munch went into his room.

"You like Nintendo, right?" he asked from his room.

"Yeah, why do you think I play the one upstairs in the crib all the time during lunch hour?"

Munch rummaged through his closet.

"Found it," he muttered.

He pulled out two bags and went to the living room. Amy was craning her neck to see what her uncle was doing, when she suddenly became disinterested in what he was doing.

"I don't know if your parents did the open one gift before Christmas, but would you settle for two?" asked Munch hesitantly.

Amy's mouth slightly dropped.

"No, I don't mind. What are you, insane? Of course I would open some presents before Christmas in heartbeat!" exclaimed Amy.

Munch handed her the bags and shook his head. He covered his ears as she opened the first bag.

"AHHHHHH! A Gamecube bundle! Mario Kart Double Dash with two controllers! A 1039 memory card and…"

Amy opened the second bag.

"MARIO DDR! AND ANOTHER DANCE PAD!"

She waved the box back and forth in a dancing motion.

"I'd take it you like?" asked Munch.

"Yes, yes, yes!" said Amy and jumped in his arms, "Thank you so much."

"Hey, hey, hey! Careful with the shoulder. I just did my exercises an hour ago," he said as he tried to balance himself.

"Oh. Sorry," said Amy blushing, "How did you know?"

"Fin kept getting sore when you kept beating him on the games upstairs in the crib. I eventually took the hint from him that I needed to get you one so he could play with someone else besides you," said Munch, grinning slyly.

"How did you get all of this…"

"Pension and setting money aside since early October. I just manage to buy the stuff when Emily took me to one of my sessions for the first time."

Amy smiled and blushed again.

"I'm going to give you two of your gifts early too," she said.

"Amy…" began Munch.

"It's only fair!"

"You don't…"

But Amy did not listen to him. She went to her room and went to her closet. She found two of his gifts. She picked them up and went back to the living room.

"Amy…you don't have to do this!" protested Munch.

"And I'm the one that drives the car and can make you fashionably late for your date. I insist," she said.

Munch sighed, gave her his signature look over the glasses, and took the both of his parcels. He opened the first box.

"Hey, I've been needing one of these!" he exclaimed.

It was a black robe, pretty similar to an old one he had for winter. It was flannel and black with a simple design.

"Mine went missing last week when I put it in the…hey! Have you been in my closet again?" Munch asked.

"Well, I need some darks to wash and when I saw that and how old it was, well…okay, okay I went into your closet," admitted Amy somewhat embarrassed.

"Uh huh…right. What else have you done behind my back?" asked Munch with a sly grin.

"Ummm…nothing! I swear it! Can you just open your second present, please?" said Amy, growing more embarrassed by the minute.

Munch opened his second gift which turned out to be a pair of jeans.

"Jeans?" asked Munch skeptically.

"I got them in the darkest denim I could find," said Amy turning into a very bright red enough to rival her hoodie, "I knew you didn't have any…"

Munch shook his head.

"I've been meaning to find some anyway. One less trip to the store for me. Thanks and you can breathe now," he added, seeing how Amy was tensing up.

Amy relaxed and let out her breath she had been holding.

"Let's go," said Munch, looking out the window, "This snow is coming down way too fast."

**

* * *

Emily Smith's Apt. **

Munch sighed as Amy pulled up to Emily's apartment complex.

"This is so embarrassing," he muttered.

"Then get a car," said Amy.

Munch rolled his eyes.

"If only," he said, looking at her.

"Look," said Amy, "Just have a great time tonight. And don't get nervous and try to read her mind…"

Munch began to pantomime Amy.

"She's not a perp, you know. And stop doing that. You're looking like OD on one of your pills."

Munch held Emily's present in his hand.

"Awww…looky at the Johnny Munchy Wunchy having a sweet wittle present for his sweetheart," said Amy in a baby, mocking voice.

"Shut up," muttered Munch.

"Tell me what it is! Tell me what it is!"

Munch bobbed his head around for little while and then sighed.

"It's a…a…a little pin I found. It has her favorite flower on it, made of gold and swarovski crystals. I thought she could wear it to the dance…"

Amy grinned.

"You're a sweet old man, do you know that?" she said, jokingly.

"Munchkin!" exclaimed Munch.

He gave Amy a look before he got out of the car.

"What time will you be home tonight?" she asked.

"I don't know. Ten, eleven o'clock? Don't wait up if I'm not home around then, okay?" said Munch smiling.

"Don't worry, I won't. I'll probably be in bed and tell Tom not to buzz you in."

"Amy!"

"I'm joking."

"Well, don't get drunk."

Amy let out a laugh, waved, and droved off. Munch shook his head and waved briefly. He ought to have known better. Amy could not drink because her stomach could not take alcohol. Munch looked at his watch and realized he was forty-five minutes early. He began to wonder what to do. He checked his wallet and a few minutes called a taxi.

"Taxi!" he shouted and a yellow cab pulled over.

"Where to, mac?" asked the cab driver.

"The nearest hat store that contains fedoras," said Munch.

"You sure man? This snow is coming down like crazy. The nearest one from here is about five blocks," said the cab driver doubtfully.

"Please, it's for someone special. I'll double the total cost if you can get me there and back here in thirty minutes," pleaded Munch.

"Okay then, mac," said the cab driver, shaking his head.

* * *

Munch now walked inside Emily's apartment complex thirty minutes later, with a hat box in hand, and went to the elevator. He hit the number seven as the doors closed. A few minutes later, he walked out onto the hallway and went to apartment 7B. 

Emily was still in her bath robe and just finishing drying her hair when Munch knocked. She nearly dropped the hair dryer.

"Not now!" she cried and she looked at her watch. Ten till seven.

"Stupid four o'clock deadline!" she growled to herself, but she stopped what she was doing and went to answer the door.

"Who is it?" she said through the door.

"It's me," said Munch, "I'm sorry I'm early. The snow was coming down and…"

Munch stopped because he heard unlocking sounds. Emily opened the door and Munch looked away and nearly dropped the hat box.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know. Maybe I should have called…"

"John! It's okay! It's not like I'm naked," said Emily, trying to hold back her laugh.

Munch opened one eye.

"You sure?" he asked, slyly.

Emily did a mock frown.

"Does it look like it?" she asked and she opened the door for him to come in.

Munch walked in and Emily shut the door.

"What's in the box?" she asked as she walked past him.

Munch began to feel nervous when Emily walked past him.

"Uhh…last minute gift for Amy," said Munch, "It's a hat."

"A hat?"

"She needed one for the winter so I got her one. I came about forty-five minutes early because the snow was coming down hard and, well…"

"John, you are something else," said Emily, shaking her head and smilingly, "You're niece is very lucky to have you as an uncle. Take off your hat and coat, you're probably sweating in it."

"Amy would probably say otherwise after all the times I've been tormenting her. What do I do with this hat box?" Munch asked.

"Just set it there near your stuff. What time you want to be home tonight?"

"Well, I told Amy eleven."

"Okay, then. Let me get ready. You can watch TV if you want or read the paper."

Emily went to her room and Munch found the remote and turned on the TV. The TV came on to show the local news channel.

"Good evening everyone. This has just come in. Anyone on the roads right now, must get to where they are going. The roads right now are closed until further notice. Apparently the police and fire departments have been busy the last few hours to help people get their cars unstuck from the unusually fast piling snow. Until further notice, people are to remain indoors. This snow storm has been one of the worst in New York City's history…" said the news reporter.

"You're kidding!" said Munch, "How the hell am I suppose to get home and go to this dance tomorrow!"

Emily stuck her head out.

"They closed the roads?" she asked.

"Until further notice," grumbled Munch.

Munch's cell phone then rang. It was Amy.

"Uncle John!" Amy said over the phone.

"Amy! Did you hear?" asked Munch.

"Yeah, I did. Podley turned up the TV. What are we going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know. 'Further notice' to the traffic department of New York City means whenever they feel like it," he replied.

"Oooo! Damn it! This is going to be great! What if the roads aren't cleared till morning? What are we going to do? And your medication is at home! You need to take something before you go to bed tonight!" exclaimed Amy.

"Calm down. We'll worry about getting to the house on time tomorrow morning. As for my medication, well I manage," Munch said.

"You'll be stiff in the morning! Remember what happened last time!" she cried.

"Amy, it's been a month. I think I should be okay. I've been doing fine lately…"

"Yesterday, you didn't."

"Munchkin, Emily is watching me. I'm in good hands."

"But what about tonight? What are we going to do tonight?"

Munch sighed. That he did not have an answer for.

"Amy…"

"You can't stay at her place! That would be rude, impolite! It would not seem right to even begin with!"

Munch shook his head and looked at Emily.

"You guys are trying to figure out how to get home?" Emily asked.

Munch covered the phone.

"She doesn't like the idea of me staying here without my medication. I take this pain reliever at night. It helps me sleep. I have a tendency to sleep on my bad arm," he whispered.

"Hey! Uncle John! What are you doing! What's going on?" shouted Amy from the phone.

Emily smirked.

"What?" said Munch.

"Let me talk to her."

"Okay," said Munch, "You're death wish."

"Amy," said Emily into the phone.

"Hi Emily! How are you?" asked Amy.

"I'm fine, dear. Listen, it's okay if he stays the night."

"But I don't want him to impose on your hospitality! It's okay, I'll drive the roads."

"You will do no such thing. It's dangerous and I don't feel your Uncle John would like it knowing you were trying to pick him and you had an accident," said Emily, sternly.

"But he needs that pain reliever for the night! He'll wake up stiff!" cried Amy.

"Amy, honey, don't get upset. What does he need to take? Try to think of the name," said Emily, soothingly.

"Well, he needs to take it with food and it was something new. He got it last week. It was a short-term medication and it begins with a 'V.' Ummm…it would be…Vicoprofen! Yeah, Vicoprofen! I remember it now because he can't take any form of ibuprofen with it!"

"Okay, relax. Does he need this tonight?"

"Yes, or his arm will be sore in the morning."

Emily slapped her head.

"I have a bottle of that. I went with him to pick up one, remember? Remember how I told you I lost it?"

"Yeah?"

"I had put it in my purse and completely forgot about!"

Amy let out a sigh of relief.

"So, he'll be okay at your place?" she asked.

"It's fine. I got a spare bed. He'll be okay," said Emily serenely.

"Okay, thank you so much. I'll try to be there first thing in the morning around eight, okay?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Now go and enjoy yourself."

"I will."

And Amy hung up.

"We'll that worked," said Emily.

"You lied to her?" asked Munch, bewildered.

"Somewhat. I actually have some Vicoprofen from earlier this year. I fell and broke my arm. I don't think it has expired," said Emily as she went to check her medicine cabinet, "Yup, I was right. You can take this tonight."

"So you never told her about how I accidentally lost my temper and through it out the car window?" asked Munch, embarrassingly.

"John, I'm not the type that rats out people," Emily said, coolly.

"And what about the spare bed? You only have a two-bedroom apartment," wondered Munch aloud.

Emily poked her head out her bedroom door.

"Munch, did you think you were going to sleep on the couch with that bad arm of yours?"

Munch's mouth slightly dropped.

"You're not serious…" he could not even finish the sentence.

"What? We've been dating for a pretty long time now and didn't you say your partner suspects you sleeping with me?" asked Emily, grinning.

"Sleep with you? As in…" Munch said, looking over his glasses.

Emily shrugged.

"Depends how you interpret it, but you need to eat first and take your medication…oh!"

Munch had got up and pulled Emily towards him into a kiss. Emily began to smile and laugh.

"I guess we'll have dinner later?" she asked once they broke apart.

"What do you mean dinner? I thought we were having it now," said Munch.

Emily laughed as Munch pulled her into the bed room and closed the door.

* * *

You like it? Please tell me by reviewing! 


	4. Ch 4: Now I'm a Believer

Hey, hey, hey! I finally got this up! The last chapter!

Just a few things to cite:

I do not own Beauty and The Beast on Broadway production.

I do not own Halo 2 or anything to the Microsoft corp.

I do not Best Buy gift cards or anything related to Best Buy.

I do not the song or the lyrics from "I'm a Believer." Song is performed by Smashmouth. As for the lyrics, I have no idea who wrote them, but it wasn't me. That's for sure.

And finally, I do not own the SVU characters. Just Amy and Emily and Heng Fu's Kung Fu Palace. Enjoy guys!

* * *

Munch lied in bed next morning staring at the ceiling. Emily had her head on his chest, still sleeping, and his hand was around her back.

"Did last night really happen?" he thought.

His clothes were on the floor, yet he still could not believe he had sex. He could not even get it up last time with Billie Lou, yet last night…

Munch shook his head. Last night did happen and, for once in his life, it did not feel like it was a mistake.

Munch managed to move Emily onto a pillow without waking her. He quietly got out of bed and put on boxers and pants and opened the door quietly. He snuck out of the room, barefoot, and saw he had left his present for Emily on the couch. He tilted his head to one side and went over to it. He picked it up and went back to Emily's room.

Munch came back and kissed Emily on the neck. Emily stirred.

"What?" she asked groggily, "What's wrong?"

"I have this for you. Merry Christmas," Munch said and he gave her his present.

She sat up with the covers still wrapped around her and opened Munch's present.

"I thought you would like to wear it tonight, for the dance," mumbled Munch.

Emily smiled.

"It's so beautiful, John! I love it! Thank you!" she exclaimed and she kissed him.

Munch was enjoying the kiss until his cell phone rang. He broke apart and after a few minutes of searching, he found it under the bed.

"Munch," he said.

"Hey! Are you up?" came Amy's voice.

"Yes," groaned Munch, "Where are you?"

"Home," she replied.

"How the hell you got home?"

"I chained the tires. Is Emily up?"

"How would I know!" he hissed, "I slept on the couch last night."

Amy held back what she really wanted to say.

"Then make some noise," she said finally, "Wake her up on purpose. I'm leaving your place right now. The roads are okay, but we need to leave early since we are picking up Fin. Don't forget to tell her she needs to bring her stuff with her for the dance, etc."

"Fine," sighed Munch, "Are you bringing my stuff?"

"Who do you think I am, the Fed Ex girl! Of course, I'm bringing our stuff to the house…"

And she hung up, ranting.

"What's up?" asked Emily.

"We need to get going," said Munch, "She was able to get home last night by chaining her tires and she's picking us up and then we have to pick up Fin. Get your stuff ready. I'll make some coffee."

Munch was getting up when Emily grabbed his arm.

"Listen, about last night…that was lovely. I haven't felt like that in ages."

"Felt like what?" asked Munch.

"Respected, loved…that's how it felt."

Munch smiled.

"I suppose this means we are serious now?"

Emily kissed him on the lips.

"That answered my question," he said, laughing and he went to go make the coffee.

Fifteen minutes later, Emily was dressed and her stuff packed for later on that night. She also some presents for the squad and she was a bit nervous.

"I don't know, John. I mean, detectives hate reporters," she said.

"We only hate reporters that don't leave us alone and let us do our job. You haven't got in our way," said Munch.

"I'm a reporter John. I still fall in that stereotype."

"And if any of my co-workers start acting rude to you, they've got something else coming. They're not going to mess with you because then they have to mess with me and that won't be pretty," said Munch, giving her his over the glasses look, "Trust me, everything is going to be fine today and tonight."

A buzzing sound rang out through the apartment.

"That must be Amy," said Emily and she went over to the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Emily!" cried Amy, "Are you and my uncle ready?"

"Yeah, we are. We'll meet you downstairs," Emily replied.

"Okay."

Emily turned to Munch.

"Does she know about…"

"That I don't know," said Munch, grimacing, "But if I know her and I think I do, she won't say anything until tonight and she'll give me the chastising of a life time after she drops you off."

And they gathered their stuff and left the apartment.

* * *

**On The Way To The 1-6**

**Friday, December 25th, 2005**

"You…are…nuts!" said Fin, shaking his head in the passenger seat.

Amy had just got done explaining what she did the night before to get home while Munch and Emily listened intently from the back.

"And where was John in all this?" he added.

"I was stranded at the restaurant with my girlfriend," said Munch, rolling his eyes, "By the time she came, we were just glad to go home. She gave Emily an extra set of chains."

"And you always carry chains with you in the trunk?" asked Fin, skeptically to Amy.

"During the winter time, yes I do," said Amy.

"You're nuts!"

Amy smirked.

"Am I nuts enough to belong into an asylum?" she asked.

"You see," said Munch to Emily, "I deal with this every day I go to work."

"What do you mean by 'You'?" asked Amy, "I deal with it too, along with Fin."

"But I'm not the cause of trouble this time," Munch said succinctly, "Fin started it."

Fin rolled his eyes.

"Emily, I have this much to say to you."

"What?" asked Emily.

"Either you are very brave or very stupid to go out with him, but since he's been going out with you? Well, he's become a bit more bearable in car rides and in the squad room. I thought it was the shooting at first, but I was wrong. Whatever you two have been doing, it has really softened him up."

Munch and Emily turned red and were speechless. Amy, however, turned to face Fin.

"You idiot! What the hell are you spouting! I have a half mind to shoot you right now! Was that suppose to be a compliment!" she yelled.

"Yeah, it was. I mean Munch struck gold this time. Otherwise, she would have left after the first date," said Fin shrugging.

Munch and Emily looked at each other, then at Fin.

"By the way," he added, "You just missed our turn, Amy."

Amy muttered a few things to Fin and everyone burst out in the car laughing. Amy could not help it. She laughed too.

* * *

**SVU Squad Room**

Cragen was pacing around the squad room. Due to last night's snow storm, he knew everyone was going to be late. He just did not expect it to be this bad. He poured himself a cup of coffee and was about to go back into his office when he finally heard the elevator bell and everyone came off at the same time.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked, "I've been worried sick. Who carpooled?"

"No one," said Stabler, "We all arrived at the same time and in the process, we nearly crashed. The roads, they're horrible."

"You liar," growled Amy, "You were the one that couldn't make up your mind on your turn signal!"

"And what about you?" asked Benson, "You nearly gave me a fender bender…"

"People," sighed Cragen as he eyed everyone intently, "It's Christmas. And if I have to put any of you in the lock-up for disorderly conduct and reckless driving, then none of you are getting your presents."

"But we didn't do anything," said Munch and Fin together.

"I know, but you guys argue all the time in the squad room. So I have an excuse."

"What about my girlfriend?" asked Munch, revolted at the thought Cragen had the nerve to lock them up on Christmas if they were being bad.

"She can write the story of how my squadron of detectives ended up in jail for Christmas day," said Cragen, extending his hand to shake Emily's.

"I do believe we have only met once," said Emily.

"That would be at the 'funeral'," said Cragen.

"Oh God," said Munch, rolling his eyes, "Don't get started on that. Isn't Christmas supposed to be a cheerful holiday?"

"You don't celebrate Christmas, remember?" said Benson, grinning.

Munch raised an eyebrow and everyone laughed.

"You don't celebrate Christmas?" asked Emily, curiously.

"Well…" began Munch, "Yes and no. I observe it."

"Ah," said Emily, giving Munch a sly grin.

"Come on everyone!" said Cragen, "Let's open presents. I'm Santa this year."

"Santa?" asked Amy and Emily.

Munch filled them in.

"Every year, one of us is 'Santa.' Basically, we have the jolly task of handing out presents to everyone."

Everyone amassed all their gifts into one big pile which consisted of very few packages and mainly envelopes.

"I have a feeling," began Cragen, looking down at the pile, "That we did the gift card thing again this year."

"Well, at least we have more boxes this year," said Fin, "Last year, it looked like the mafia was here and we were giving out money in envelopes."

"True. All we had was the envelopes and a gold fish from the desk sergeant that got over fed because we didn't ask who fed it last," said Stabler, "Poor Jaws."

Benson rolled her eyes.

"After we get some coffee, can we please start opening something here?"

Cragen smiled and nodded and handed Benson an envelope and a box. Munch got up and began to serve everyone coffee. Cragen also handed out envelopes to everyone else, except for Emily in which he handed her a small box.

"What's this Captain Cragen?" asked Emily.

"Well, I found it the other day and I found it kinda cute," said Cragen.

"You find things cute?" asked Munch bemused.

Cragen ignored Munch. Munch, however, was watching what Emily was about to open.

"Awww…it is cute Captain! Thank you!" said Emily, beaming.

It was a black teddy bear wearing a police uniform and it had a hat and gold glasses, stuffed inside an NYPD coffee mug.

"I found the glasses at a craft store. I thought I'd give it some Munch-flair," said Cragen, smiling.

"It looks just like John!" cried Emily, "I think I'm going to take this to work and put it on my desk!"

Munch nearly dropped the coffee pot. Everyone, except Cragen and Emily, snickered.

"Hey Captain!" said Munch, as he regained his composure and served coffee to everyone, "I'll find one just like you next year, only with a magnifying glass."

"I'm honored John," said Cragen, rolling his eyes.

Benson opened her card. Out fell an Office Max gift card.

"Question," said Benson, "When you were criticizing us on the gift card ordeal, you were including yourself, right?"

"I guess this means we can't be b—ching about not having enough supplies to get our paperwork done," said Stabler miserably.

Benson gave out her gift cards which were from Staples, with the exception of Stabler.

"Merry Christmas," said Benson, handing Stabler a thick envelope.

"What this?" he asked.

"Open it," said Benson.

Stabler opened the envelope and pulled out six tickets.

"Hey! Beauty and The Beast on Broadway! My kids have been dying to see this Olivia! Thanks!" he said, reading the tickets.

"No problem," said Benson as she gave quick, hinting look, but Stabler did not notice it.

Now Stabler gave out his gift cards to everyone (They were from a local donut shop), except Benson. She got a bag from him and opened it. It was a stuffed Panda in a Kung Fu robe and it was holding a card.

"Heng Fu's Kung Fu Palace…get seven free lessons," read Benson, "What? You don't trust my shooting skills any more?"

"Well actually, I just saw Charlie's Angels the other day with Liz and I always pass the place on my way to work," said Stabler, shrugging.

"Thank you, Elliot," said Benson, giving him a look.

Fin past out his gift cards which were from Best Buy.

"Ten bucks!" exclaimed Amy, "Sweet! Best Buy is cool!"

Fin gave Munch a small box. Munch gave him a curious look as he opened it.

"Hey! It's an alien hula doll! Where did you find one of these?" Munch asked, amused at the gift.

"What if I told you I made it?" asked Fin.

"I would say you have too much time on your hands," Munch replied.

"Merry Christmas then, Old Man," snickered Fin.

Munch gave him a look before passing out his gift cards, and presents to his partner, niece, and girlfriend. Fin examined his closely.

"What did you get me this year?" he asked suspiciously.

"Open it and find out," said Munch.

Fin tore off the gift-wrapping. It was Halo 2, the game he had wanted to get for ages. Fin tried to hold back his excitement.

"Um, thanks," he said, but a small smile crept across his face.

"No problem," said Munch, "Now quit telling me about it and we can call it even."

Emily opened her present next. It was a set of long, sleek black leather gloves. She had lost hers one night while on a date with Munch earlier in the month.

"Thank you sweetie," said Emily and gave Munch a kiss on the cheek.

"Sweetie?" asked Stabler, curiously.

"Pursue that one and you'll be having an unwanted accessory on your face for this dance," hissed Amy.

Stabler put his hands in front of him.

"I was only asking, but I surrender. I surrender."

Amy now opened her present from her uncle as soon as Stabler backed off the affectionate name calling between the two lovebirds. She opened the box and inside was a black fedora hat, exactly like her uncle's.

"You gave me your hat," said Amy, confused yet smiling.

"No I didn't. I bought you one exactly like mine. I thought you looked kinda good in mine yesterday."

"Sweetness," said Amy and she put it on, "Now I'm definitely a Munch."

Everyone laughed.

"What?" said Amy, "Hats are cool and this hat is classy. You can never go wrong with Fedoras and trench coats for your day job outerwear."

"Exactly my point," said Munch, "I've been trying to make that for years."

Cragen sighed.

"So, I think it's a little for early for everyone to start getting ready for this dance. Why don't we go…"

"Have a snowball fight?" asked Stabler.

"Well," began Cragen. He was not too sure considering last year's snowball fight had got out of hand and his bald spot on his head was the primary target for most snowballs that had headed his way.

"Snow ball fight?" asked Amy, "Oh yes! We got to have one!"

"But we have an odd number of people," argued Cragen.

"Not anymore," said a voice behind them.

Casey Novak had arrived as Cragen's dance partner for the dance that evening. She was caring her dress and a bag with all her stuff.

"I do believe you guys received my Christmas gift already," she said.

"What Christmas gift?" asked Benson.

Novak pointed over at the coffee maker. The coffee pot had been brewing since they came in and they all had assume that Cragen had made it.

"Oh," said Stabler.

"I see everyone likes it," said Novak looking at the pot and noticing it was almost gone.

"We thought Cragen made it," said Fin.

"No wonder it tasted so good," said Munch, looking down his cup.

Novak shook her head. Everyone started looking down at their cups and Cragen walked over to Novak.

"See? I told you they don't like the way I make the coffee," he said.

"Didn't you tell them I was coming today?" Novak asked.

"I dropped them a hint. I'd figured their excellent detective skills could figure out the rest."

"Well, obviously they didn't believe you, Don," she said and went upstairs to put up her stuff.

Cragen sighed and looked at his squad.

"What is so interesting about a cup of coffee?" he asked exasperated.

"The fact it was made here," said Stabler.

"Well, it's one o' clock and we don't have to be there until seven, so you can do whatever you want for the time…"

"SNOW BALL FIGHT!" cried Fin.

"I'll join you guys later," said Cragen, shaking his head, "Just be back here and start getting ready for the dance so we can be on time."

"Who's joining? We got to form teams," said Stabler.

"Fin, Amy, Emily, and me are on one team," said Munch.

"Count me in too," said Novak, coming down the stairs.

"That means Olivia, Casey, and me form a team and we get the Captain," said Stabler.

"I guess that means I have to join in now," said Cragen miserably.

"Well, I actually needed to talk to you for a second," said Munch.

"Anything to prolong my misery please," said Cragen.

"We can hold the fort down until you guys get back," said Amy.

"I haven't been a snow ball fight in ages," said Emily.

"You'll be fine," said Fin, "They can't hit anything."

"HEY!" shouted Benson, Stabler, and Novak.

Everyone left except Cragen and Munch. Munch waited until he heard the elevator doors close before he spoke.

"Well?" asked Cragen.

"Captain, I was wondering if I could take some vacation time," said Munch.

"Let me guess," began Cragen, "You were also hoping Amy's vacation would tie along in with yours."

Munch nodded.

"Well, we've had three people on duty before. I don't mind. When do you want to have it?"

"Before the shrink evaluation," replied Munch.

Cragen looked at the ceiling.

"Well, considering it's for this reason and this reason alone, I could make an exception this time. But for future reference, this won't happen again," he said, returning his gaze back on Munch.

"Except when we have a shrinking coming up and the government is behind it," added Munch and Cragen gave him a look.

"Just kidding," he said.

"Forget it. Let's go outside and join this snowball fight. I want my embarrassment as quick and painless as possible."

Munch held back his small laugh and followed Cragen to the elevator.

* * *

"TAKE THAT!" yelled Benson.

She flung a snowball at Fin who grabbed Amy and ducked beneath a snow mound. The snowball instead hit Stabler.

"I'M ON YOUR SIDE!" he cried to her.

Novak threw a snowball at Emily. Emily was focused on hitting Benson when it hit her in the back and she went down for the count.

THUMP!

Munch and Cragen both went their separate ways. Seeing Emily as a victim of Novak's snowball, Munch wanted revenge and threw one at Novak, which hit her right on her side.

"You mess with Emily, then you mess with me!" he yelled and smirked.

Amy scored a hit as Cragen had tried to throw one at Fin. He looked at her as she laughed, but was quickly silenced by Benson. Then Benson had snow in her face as Fin turned away from Novak and threw one at her. Subsequently, Novak hit Fin as he got distracted by Benson. And a snowball Stabler threw at Munch was intercepted by the one Munch threw.

To see a squad of detectives, an ADA, and a reporter having a snowball fight outside a station house and on a holiday workday, would be a strange sight indeed. In fact, the site would almost be considered as a once in the blue moon opportunity. However, the last 3 years they had worked Christmas because of department regulations (If Cragen had his way, he would not even called in his squad for work). Someone needed to be on duty in case anyone called about a crime.

And the fact that it was a squad of detectives, their leader, the ADA that helped out the unit, and a reporter having a good time together, it was unthinkable. Both the police force and ADA shared similar feelings about reporters. They were good, yes, but sometimes they stick their pens and notepads where they should not be. But Emily Smith was an exception to this rule. She was a reporter, but she only reported about tourists sights to see in New York City in the New Yorker. Okay, newspapers or newsletter do the same thing she did, but she did not report about crimes, politics, economics, or all that other stuff that was released on a day to day or weekly basis with the sightseeing attractions. And she had connections to the press that had been used many a time by all squad members, the Captain, and the ADA herself. So, they were some good things about her and it changed their perspective on the press a little, but not too much either.

* * *

Soon, everyone's hands were going numb to the cold. Wanting to reclaim the feeling in them, everyone went back inside to the squad room. And to their great mercy, the desk sergeant must had grabbed a cup of coffee because he refilled the pot with a hot fresh brew.

Cragen looked at his watch as he waited in line. It was four thirty in the afternoon.

"I think after this, the girls should go upstairs and not come down until it's almost time to leave," he said.

"Do we have to?" asked Benson.

"It'll be fun for me. Think of it. I can watch the male half writhe in agony wondering what their dance partners will look like," said Cragen.

Stabler, Munch, and Fin glared at Cragen.

"So we're your entertainment?" muttered Stabler.

"Yes and tonight at the dance. Speaking of which, I would like to say a few things before everyone goes their separate ways."

Everyone listened.

"Tonight, I want you to represent your house well…"

"Not a be-on-your-best-behavior speech. I haven't listened to these things since fifth grade," muttered Amy.

Munch gave her a slight jab with his elbow.

"Just bear with it and listen to him."

"And when I mean by _well_," Cragen said, eyeing the pair, "I mean…"

He paused to find the right words.

"I mean bring the house down."

The squad looked at each other.

"Come again?" said Novak.

"You heard what I said. This should be especially easy for Munch and Fin at least."

"We're not trouble makers!" exclaimed Fin.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Amy.

"How do you want us to bring the house down?" asked Emily, who was just as confused as the squad.

"I wouldn't say by any means necessary, but I would say bring it down within reason," replied Cragen, "Now…ladies upstairs in the crib and men stay here in the squad room."

The squad sighed and went their separate ways. Emily kissed Munch.

"It's not all that bad, John. We'll be down before you know it," she said.

"Tell that to the other part of me that the squad sees everyday. I wanted to spend Christmas with you and Amy…"

"And you will tonight," she said kissing him on the cheek.

Stabler and Fin snickered and a small smile crept up Cragen's face. Munch shook his head and sighed.

"Awww…is the poor Munchkin going to miss his girlfriend?" asked Stabler, grinning.

"He'll go crazy if she doesn't come down in thirty minutes," snickered Fin.

"Two things. One, I'm not 'Munchkin' anymore. Amy is…," began Munch.

Amy stopped on the stair case and wanted to shout something at her uncle, but Benson and Novak, who were behind her, pushed her to the top of the stairs.

"And two," said Munch, pausing as if he knew what was coming, "What makes you think I'll go crazy if she doesn't come down in a certain amount of time?"

"Well, we were going to ask you questions of what you have been doing with her," said Fin, thoughtfully.

Munch got stunned.

"Well, in that case…" he began and he started to head for the stair case.

"Knock it off you two," said Cragen, shaking his head, "Leave the man in peace. If he wants to confess his guilty feelings, then get him in The Box. That's what we do for a living."

* * *

"I don't get it," grumbled Amy, "Remind me why do we have to sit two hours up here again?"

"So we can wow our dates…uhhh, I mean, dance partners," said Novak, seeing the glares on Benson and Amy's faces.

"Or give them a heart attack," added Benson.

"Or could we do both?" asked Emily.

All four women laughed.

"That would be a site for the nurses on duty near in the hospital. We come in, looking so nice and there's four stretchers coming in with our partners on them. They might think that we're black widows," said Novak.

"Ewww. Nasty things they are," said Amy.

"Which one? The homicidal maniac who wants money and riches or the arthropod?" asked Benson, grinning.

"Both," said Amy, "One makes you look through a paper trail of insurance claims and whatnot that's as long as the distance from Earth to Pluto and the other makes you wish you had a flyswatter, a shoe, and a can of Raid handy."

"Black widow cases are the most difficult to prosecute," agreed Novak, "The paper trail is so long that sometimes we get the new ADAs in training to look up the stuff for us, but sometimes you're usually better off doing the long, tedious job yourself."

"But don't you prosecute cases for the Special Victims Unit?" asked Emily.

"I do now, but once in awhile when I was still in White-collar crimes, we got one. And boy, they were a mess. Sometimes you had to team up with another ADA who represents the homicide unit and other times you had to represent both of the units in court. Very difficult," replied Novak.

Benson turned her head slightly to side at Emily.

"Why do you insist on calling us the "Special Victims Unit?" she asked.

"Formality, I guess. I am so use to writing and speaking that way that I forget how to speak like a regular human being sometimes," replied Emily, "Do you want me to call you guys sex crimes?"

"We accept either one," said Benson, "It's just everyone I talked to refers to us as sex crimes. It's a thing you get use to hearing all the time."

"So how did you meet John?" asked Novak.

"Well, we literary ran into each other. Well, I ran into him at least. I was going back to my car to get a few things for interview I was doing early that morning and I didn't see him standing on the sidewalk. I ran into him and we both fell on the sidewalk. I got a few scratches on my arm, but he really did a good number to his hand. I caught him off guard I guess because he was yelling at me then he stopped. We both helped each other up and we were both embarrassed about the whole deal. We apologized, I asked if he was okay, and he said he was fine and that Amy would clean up his hand. We asked each other for our names, and when he said Munch, I vaguely recognized it. I went to the newspaper archives at the library and I found his name in a few issues of a few rapist he had caught. I mostly remember the ones with Sarah Logan in them and the serial rapist Darryl Kern who fled to Canada, but was ship back into our custody."

Amy began to feel uneasy. Munch had crush on Sarah Logan, the reporter on tv, before she died in a bombing. The bomb was actually created by some psychopath who thought he had a relationship with her, and because Sarah had did a story about the details of her case, he killed her because he thought it was inappropriate for her to broadcast it on TV. He was still in prison serving his sentence, but Munch still had a photograph of Sarah Logan in his bedroom, which she saw on occasion if she went in there. She had seen the case file once, and had talked to Cragen about the details that did not make it on the file. But she was afraid to bring up the case as a conversation piece for her uncle, fearing her he would either brush it off or get sensitive about it, at least what she deduced from Cragen's conversation so many months ago.

The women talked some more before deciding they should start getting ready and Amy still had that queasy feeling in her stomach. It was always the same feeling that came up when anyone else or her brought up the case of Sarah Logan. She finished getting ready and occasionally participating in the conversation the other girls were having.

* * *

The four men downstairs had already changed into their tuxes and were now waiting on the girls. Solitaire on the computer had now lost its interest and now they were talking.

"So, John. Is it really getting serious between you two?" asked Stabler.

Munch buried himself in yesterday's paper. He found himself rereading an article he had already read three times. He could not stand much longer of the constant ridicule that Stabler had been giving him for two very long hours. Cragen had finally given up on telling him to knock it off. Fin had lost interest after a while, but he had to worry about two Munchs chewing his ass over if he said anything that they had sworn him to secrecy to.

"Come on," said Stabler, "Tell us something and we'll stop making fun of you."

"And be the laughing stock and the new joke of the day for the squad room? I don't think so," said Munch, not looking up from the paper.

"Come on man. You've been dating her for four-five months now! Tell us something!"

Munch ignored him. Stabler to turn to Fin.

"Can't you tell me anything?" he asked.

Fin snorted.

"You're kidding right? I deal with John and Amy at work, I ride with them to crime scenes. If I say anything, I'll be in the East River and in the next day's paper."

"You guys, can we please move on to something else?" moaned Cragen.

"Your fault you wanted to the girls to go upstairs," said Munch, turning a page of the newspaper, "You should have known that we, or in this case they, were going to do something along the lines of this."

Someone coughed from upstairs. Heads snapped up to the staircase.

"Well you guys are having fun," said Amy, "What did we miss?"

"Not much," said Fin.

The men were so use to the women in work suits that they could not picture them in a dress. Now they could not take their eyes off them.

Benson was wearing orange silk dress that slimmed her out. Her hair had some curl to it and she was wearing a matching set of diamond earrings and necklace. Novak was wearing a purple dress that fluffed out towards the bottom, her hair in a bun, and she was wearing a matching set of emerald earrings and necklace. Amy was wearing a simple black dress and her hair was also in a bun with some hair cascading down from it. She had also put makeup on which was very rare for her and she had blue sapphire earrings and a necklace. Emily had also work a black dress, but it was silk. She was wearing the pin Munch had given her and some gold earrings. She had a black shawl wrapped around her shoulders as well.

Something in the men's mind clicked and said "Stop staring you idiot."

They snapped out of their trance and joined their dance partners now waiting at the bottom of the stairs. They put on their coats and were heading to the elevator when Fin stopped and went back to the squad room.

"What the…" Amy began, "Where the hell do you think you're going!"

"Cold feet, Fin?" shouted Cragen as he held the door open.

Fin rummaged around in his desk, found what he was looking for, and slipped it inside his jacket pocket. Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. He joined them inside the small area.

"Forgot something," he said.

"Good," said Munch, "At least your prepared."

Hits and elbows came his way along with "JOHN!" as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

**City Hall**

City Hall did not even look recognizable that night. The squad and reporter were riding in a limousine Cragen had called for the occasion. The only way the gang could tell was from the district it was in and the statues outside the building.

"What the..." said Novak, "Is this who I work for again?"

"You mean 'we'," said Cragen.

"Red carpet. Why are they treating us like celebrities when they're trying to fire us?" asked Benson.

"Maybe because we have the same standing as them," said Stabler.

"Or maybe it's because they're kissing up," said Munch.

"Don't start old man. Out of the 365 days of the year, you can at least spare me one day without your ranting," said Fin.

"Maybe he's right for once," said Amy, thinking thoughtfully, "I mean they're basically saying 'Merry Christmas! Here's your severance package,' if we even get that."

"Or maybe it's because the guy who is force to do all this shrink screening, doesn't really want to. So he threw this dance to kind of say he's sorry," said Emily.

Silence.

"Nah," said everyone and got out of the car.

They walked up the stairs and into the building.

Inside, they looked around. It was somewhat dark with the exception of the disco ball providing light along with the other dimmed lights. There was bar in the corner and the orchestra was up near the front on stage, along with The Commissioner. He was talking to a man the squad all knew very well. Agent Hammond. Cragen's mood darkened at the sight of them. The squad noticed.

"Let's hang up our coats here and then disappear," he said.

"Can we disappear to the bar?" said Munch. Amy resisted the urge to step on his foot.

"I don't care. Wait, actually I do. If you do go there, don't buy nothing alcoholic," replied Cragen.

"Why?" whined Munch.

"For God's sake old man, look who's on the stage! The man who nearly wrecked your life!" hissed Amy, "Getting drunk is a perfect recipe for disaster!"

Munch frowned and sighed. Cragen took Novak's coat and hung it up on the nearby wall. The squad followed and they disappear onto the dance floor.

"What do you think he's doing here?" asked Novak, as she took Cragen's arm and he began to lead her in the waltz.

"I don't know," said Cragen, keeping an eye on Hammond, "But I don't like it one bit at all."

* * *

A few feet away from them, Fin and Amy were trying to do the waltz.

"Stop stepping on my toe!" hissed Amy.

"I'm sorry," said Fin, "I'm not use to this."

"What did you grab from your desk back at the house?" she asked, hoping it was not what her uncle had assumed.

"It was a CD…hey, I hope you weren't…" he began looking at her.

"No!" said Amy, horrified.

"Good, in that case, why don't we go to the bar?" Fin offered, the shock of what Amy had been trying to say to him was still wearing off.

"Yeah, great idea," said Amy.

* * *

Munch and Emily were doing fairly well on their own.

"Next month, my niece and I are taking a vacation."

"Bit cold, don't you think?"

"We're going Baltimore."

"What for?"

"She wants to see where her father grew up. It's a trip for this psych evaluation coming up. Kinda get out what we don't want on our records."

She nodded and noticed that they were fairly close to Fin and Amy. She had not been paying attention to Munch's lead.

"John, why are we so close to those two?" asked Emily.

"It's not like they can see us," replied Munch.

Amy saw her uncle and his girlfriend and she stuck her tongue at them before she stopped dancing with Fin. Emily snickered while Munch frowned slightly. Then they began to walk towards them.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as her eyes narrowed.

Emily gave Munch a don't-get-me-into-this look.

"Uh…we were just heading over to the bar and we're dancing over to see if you wanted come with us. We need someone to watch over us if we drink too much," said Munch quickly.

Emily playfully slapped his bad arm. Munch gasped in pain.

"That's the most creative excuse I have ever heard. And you're lucky your girlfriend hit you on your bad arm. I would have taken a beer glass and crashed it on your drunken head," said Amy seriously.

Munch gave her a shocked look.

"You wouldn't do that! I'm your uncle!" he exclaimed.

"That means I can get away with it," smirked Amy.

Fin and Emily couldn't hold back their laughter, so they snickered instead.

"Let's go to the bar," Munch said, admitting defeat.

"Hold on," said Fin, "I need to do something."

And he took off back on the dance floor. Amy scowled.

"What his is problem tonight?" she grumbled.

"It's ok, Amy. I'm sure he'll be back soon," said Emily.

"He'd better," said Munch, also getting annoyed by Fin's behavior, "If he keeps this up with her, I'll have a thing or two to say to him."

* * *

Meanwhile, Benson and Stabler were enjoying themselves on the dance floor.

"These dance lessons Cragen gave us have really paid off," said Stabler.

"And also me leading so you don't step on my foot," said Benson.

Stabler grinned and looked around.

"Check out the Captain and Casey. Don't they look cheerful."

"It's probably because of Hammond. They're probably worried," said Benson.

"So how we going to bring the house down if he's around?" asked Stabler.

"Don't worry about. My money is on Munch, Fin, and Amy. They're The Three Stooges at work, so there's no doubt about it that they have thought of something."

"You didn't think of anything?"

"No, did you?"

"I didn't either."

"So I guess we were relying on them then or maybe we forgot and we're lazy?"

"We had a snowball fight today. We didn't have time, Olivia."

"You mean you, Elliot. You kept trying to hit Fin after he got you on his sneak attack."

Stabler shook his head and decided to change the subject. He saw Munch, Amy, and Emily at the bar.

"I think we were somewhat right with out prediction," he said.

"How so?" asked Benson.

"Look over at the bar. I think Fin is up to something and Amy has the most sourest look on her face."

Benson laughed aloud.

* * *

Fin had got near the orchestra and been signaling the maestro for sometime before he got his attention.

"Hey! Yo! Wrap it up! I need you do something for me," he said.

The maestro looked at him.

"Can you play this CD for a friend of mine?"

The maestro raised an eyebrow.

"What? You want some incentive? How about the traditional greeting I give to perps on the street? I don't have anything to give you except a good and heart-warming reason. My friend is with his girlfriend tonight and I want them to enjoy themselves. You see them at the bar? That's who I'm talking about. Not to mention my whole squad is here and we want to livin' things up a bit, y'know what I mean? Alright, I'll even say please. So will you do it, please?"

The maestro sighed and then stopped the orchestra.

"Thank you," said Fin, handing him the CD, "I really appreciate this. Now if you will excuse me, my partner is looking a bit upset right now, yeah the one with the brown hair and glasses, and I would like to get my misery over with as soon as possible."

Fin disappeared back onto the dance floor. The maestro headed over to the CD player that was hooked up to the nice surround sound speakers. He had just put the CD in when Fin arrived at the bar.

"Hi Amy," said Fin cheerfully.

"Where have you been?" said Munch menacingly.

"Uncle John, I can handle this," said Amy, sliding down from her bar stool, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FIN! WE WEREN'T EVEN ON THE DANCE FLOOR FOR FIVE MINUTES WHEN YOU SUGGEST GOING TO THE BAR, BUT THEN YOU TAKE OFF AGAIN!"

Fin looked at Munch and Emily.

"She's not drunk, right?"

"I AM PERFECTLY RATIONAL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! NOW ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"Does that answer your question?" Munch began, but was silenced by his niece.

"I was…I was…I was putting in operation a plan," explained Fin.

"What plan?" asked Emily.

Then her question was answered by the music that began to blare out loud.

* * *

_I thought love was  
Only true in fairy tales  
Meant for someone else  
But not for me  
Love was out to get to me  
That's the way it seems  
Disappointment haunted  
All my dreams

* * *

_

"So that's what you were up to!" exclaimed Munch, "Why didn't you just say that?"

"You honestly didn't think that I was…"

"No, no…"

Emily and Amy rolled their eyes.

"I promise you, if I knew he was going to say that on the elevator Amy, I would've…"

"It's okay. It's Uncle John's nature. He always assumes the worst thing possible."

With that, both girls dragged their dance partners onto the dance.

* * *

_  
And then I saw her face  
Now I'm a believer  
Not a trace  
Of doubt in my mind  
I'm in love  
I'm a believer  
I couldn't leave her  
If I tried

* * *

_

"Now see, this didn't turn out to be so bad after all," said Emily.

"Neither was last night," whispered Munch in Emily's ear.

Both turned a dark red and kept their fast pace dance going.

"So, when do you want to get together again?"

"That depends on Cragen and what happens at work too. This silent spree has to end sometime soon."

"Well, we don't want that to happen now do we?"

Munch laughed and Emily, smiling, rested her head on his chest, causing Munch to turn slightly red again, but he smiled and closed his eyes. He breathed in the scent of her hair.

_

* * *

_

I thought love was  
More or less a given thing  
The more I gave the less  
I got, oh yeah  
What's the use in trying  
All you get is pain  
When I wanted sunshine  
I got rain

* * *

Amy had broke away from Fin and was dancing on her own. Fin got somewhat upset.

"Why aren't you dancing with me?" he asked.

"You were gone half of the time. I thought you wouldn't care," said Amy.

"But I risked my neck to crash this party!"

"No, you didn't."

Fin looked at her.

"Oh, fine. I can't stand it when you give me that look."

Amy took Fin's hand as the chorus began to play again. Both were smirking at each other.

* * *

And then I saw her face  
Now I'm a believer  
Not a trace  
Of doubt in my mind  
I'm in love  
I'm a believer  
I couldn't leave her  
If I tried

* * *

Benson and Stabler were having a blast a little place for them on the floor had been created. They were singing the lyrics.

"You know this song?" asked Stabler.

"It played one time on the radio," said Benson, in a joking, defensive manner.

"I learned it from Shrek."

Benson laughed.

"Took the kids to see the movie?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Thanks for the tickets by the way for the musical. Liz and Dickie have been wanting to see that for awhile. You didn't have to do that," said Stabler.

"I'd figure it was what a partner could do. Besides, your kids mean everything to you and I thought that would be a cool thing to do with them," said Benson.

Stabler smiled and he and Benson kept dancing the night away.

* * *

What's the use in trying  
All you get is pain  
When I wanted sunshine  
I got rain

* * *

"Well now, I am impressed Captain Cragen. You have taught your squad well," said Novak.

"I have?" asked Cragen puzzled.

"You tell them not to take any sh-t from anyone," she said.

"Counselor, such language!" mocked Cragen.

"Like you haven't said a few choice words yourself," pointed out Novak.

"I know. I confess. I have said more than just few choice words in my career."

"You know, we should be dancing instead of talking about work."

"Good point, Casey."

And so Cragen and Casey resumed their waltz at a much faster pace.

* * *

And then I saw her face  
Now I'm a believer  
Not a trace  
Of doubt in my mind  
I'm in love  
I'm a believer  
I couldn't leave her  
If I tried

* * *

So now the squad had taken over the party, but other squads from other precincts soon followed and in no time the party was rocking. Benson and Stabler were dancing and singing the song lyrics, Munch and Emily were content with each other, and Amy, seeing the pair, gave her uncle an encouraging thumbs up sign. Fin even sent a nod to Munch's direction as if to say that the morning banter about his girlfriend would now end due to the affection he saw between them. And Cragen and Novak were watching all of them enjoying themselves. Cragen smiled to himself and so did Novak. Nothing was more rewarding than to see their colleagues, who worked so hard all the time to serve justice for the victim, enjoy their selves without worrying about work the next day or what was coming their way. For now, the world just seemed to stop just to let them have a break.

_

* * *

_

Then I saw her face  
Now I'm a believer  
Not a trace  
Of doubt in my mind  
Now I'm a believer  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
I'm a believer  
Then I saw her face  
I'm a believer  
Not a trace  
Of doubt in my mind  
I'm a believer

* * *

**On The Way Home To The Munch Residence**

The squad left city hall late and returned to the squad room. They changed from their outfits into their relaxing clothes. Cragen told them not to come until nine the next morning and the squad smiled in relief. The night had been fun, but they were exhausted from the dancing. They went their separate ways and bid each other good night.

Amy drove Fin back to his Brooklyn home. The roads were somewhat better than what they had been in the morning. Fin bade both his partners good night and Amy turned her car around to drive Emily home. Here, Amy encounter minor impatience as her uncle gave a long good bye to Emily. They were both in a long, passionate kiss when Amy blared the car horn. Munch came in the car grumbling. So the two had been bickering on the way back to their home.

"You could have waited a few more minutes," whined Munch.

"And watch you get robbed, knifed, or shot? You do that kind of thing indoors, not outdoors especially in this weather. What the hell were you thinking with that bad arms of yours, hmmm?" retaliated Amy.

Munch sighed. "I guess your right. I guess the headline of 'NYPD Detective and New Yorker Reporter Killed While Kissing' wouldn't seem right in a day after Christmas paper. But if I did it indoors, I may have not come back outside."

"Uncle John!"

"Sorry."

Amy sighed.

"So, did you have fun?" she asked.

"Of course I had fun at the dance…" began Munch, but was cut off.

"I know you had fun at the dance. I'm talking about last night."

Munch got very interested at the shops they were passing by them.

"Well? I know you two slept together."

Munch turned a very bright red.

"Hey! That's not…appropriate…polite!"

Amy laughed.

"I'm only kidding with you. Personally, I don't care what you do with her. If you're happy, then that's all I care about."

"Liar," said Munch, smiling, "I suppose you want a detail account of my sex life?"

Amy shot a sideward glance at her uncle and forced herself to keep the car from swerving into a nearby shop.

"Ttthh..then how we'll kill the other fifteen minutes until we get home?" she asked.

Munch burst out laughing.

"You're look…definitely priceless on that subject," he said, laughing.

"Would you like to hear a detail account of my sex life?" said Amy, smartly.

Munch stopped laughing and looked at her.

"Wwwhat? How…but…you…no…"

Munch kept making weird sounds and began to point around. Amy burst out laughing and then Munch sighed. He began to laugh too. Amy pulled up to their apartment complex and they both got out.

"I'm just asking this because I want to be sure…you and Fin haven't…" Munch began.

Amy grabbed some snow and threw it at her uncle. She glared at him.

"I guess that answer my question," said Munch, wiping the snow from his face.

"Dirty old man," muttered Amy, "I HAVE NOT BEEN FOOLING AROUND WITH FIN!"

Munch threw up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. Just don't announce it to the whole world."

Amy shook her head. The pair grabbed their stuff and went inside the building to their apartment.

"Merry Christmas Uncle John," whispered Amy as she leaned her head against his arm.

"You too, Munchkin," said Munch, "You too."

**MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH!**

**FELIZ NAVIDAD!**

**Executive writer: Munchkin25**

* * *

Appreciate reviews! Thanks for reading my story again guys! 


End file.
